Staten Island, NY – Wagner College sophomore Cara Gonzalez (Syracuse, NJ / Westhill) equaled her own school record with six assists as the Seahawks overcame LIU 13-10 in Northeast Conference women’s lacrosse play earlier today. The win stops a four game skid for the Seahawks as they improved to 1-2 in the NEC and 2-6 on the year.

Gonzalez also added a goal to total seven points in addition to a game high five draw controls in the contest for Wagner which posted its first league win of the season.

The first half went back and forth and featured five lead changes. The Seahawks grabbed a 5-4 with five minutes left in the half as sophomore Lindsay Hashmall (Wantagh, NY / Wantagh) scored on a feeder from Gonzalez. LIU quickly respond and took a 6-5 lead at intermission after scores from Amy Rizzo and Christine Wienckowski in the final five minutes of the period.

Prone to poor second halves the last few games, Wagner reversed that trend in a big way scoring the first three goals of the half to regain a lead they would not relinquish. Freshman Krista Maylayter (Cheshire, CT / Cheshire) started the rally with her first career score coming at the 26:50 mark of the stanza off an assist from sophomore Kelly Blundin (Plymouth Meeting, PA / Whitemarsh). Blundin then scored a goal of her own less than 10 seconds later after a pass from Gonzalez who won a quick draw control and sprinted down the field to set up the score. Freshman Janine Bright (Commack, NY / Commack) would extend the lead to 8-6 two minutes later.

LIU(2-8; 0-3 NEC) pulled back to within one after Jackie McCormick scored with 21 minutes to play, but the Seahawks kept the gas down scoring three more unanswered for an 11-7 lead with just under 12 minutes to play. The Blackbirds climbed back into the game closing the gap to 12-10 with 1:37 remaining, but Gonzalez won the ensuing draw control that allowed the Seahawks to spread the field and run out the clock. Hashmall added one more final tally in the closing seconds to account for the final outcome.

Senior Jessica Ellis (Fairport, NY / Fairport) had three goals in the game for Wagner, which received multi-goal games from four different players in the well rounded attack. Freshman Alex Johnston (Manlius, NY / Fayetteville-Manlius) played all 60 minutes in goal for the victors making 13 saves, including nine in the second half. Johnston held LIU to 0-7 in free position shots on the day.

Rizzo led LIU with five points scoring three goals and added two assists.

The Seahawks held a slight 36-34 edge in shots taken, and held a 15-9 advantage in draw controls. The team continues play on Thursday at 3:00 pm when they head to Sacred Heart.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (April 1, 2007)- The Long Island University women's lacrosse team dropped a close contest to Wagner, 13-10, on Sunday afternoon at Wagner Stadium.

The Blackbirds (2-8, 0-3 Northeast Conference) held a 6-5 lead at halftime on the strength of two goals apiece from senior Amy Rizzo (Jackson, N.J.) and freshman Christie Wienckowski (Newton Square, Pa.). However, Wagner (2-6, 1-2 NEC) rallied in the second half, scoring the first three goals of the half to take the lead and held off LIU the rest of the way.

Rizzo led Long Island with three goals and two assists, while Wienckowski finished with two goals and an assist. Freshman Kristina Scheerer (West Chester, Pa.) added a pair of goals. Sophomore Kimberly Campbell (Malvern, Pa.) finished with 10 saves.

LIU took the lead an early lead when Wienckowski scored off a pass from sophomore Allison Funk (Lumberton, N.J.). After Wagner tallied the next two scores, LIU got an unassisted tally from senior Kelly Betancur (Orlando, Fla.) and a goal from Funk to forge ahead 3-2 just eight minutes into the game.

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2007-04-01