ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Thanks to a career-high six goals from junior Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North), the University of New Haven women's lacrosse team (1-0) cruised to a 15-10 season-opening victory over the Molloy Lions on Thursday afternoon. Mazliah added a pair of assists to her tally, closing out the day with a career-best eight points.

Overall, Mazliah was part of three Chargers who finished with a multi-goal outing including graduate student Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) who finished with four goals and an assist in her debut as a Charger. Rounding out the leading scorers was senior Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) who contributed her first hat trick of the season. Overall, five different players finished with at least one goal as Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) and Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) each chipped in their first scores of the season.

Mazliah's two assists led the Chargers while four other players all added helpers; Cietek, Maher, Reh and Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield). Overall, the Lions led the way with a 30-25 shot advantage, while New Haven placed 20 of their 25 shots on goal, an 80-percent average.

Between the pipes, freshman Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) earned her first collegiate victory wearing the Blue and Gold Charger uniform for the first time. She closed out her afternoon with 10 saves while Gianna Guerra (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) closed out the afternoon making a pair of stops.

 SCORING

·         28:28 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1)

·         27:40 1st – UNH :: Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) (1) from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1)

·         25:59 1st  – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1) from Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) (1)

·         23:46 1st – MOL :: Jessica Markowitz from Alexa Watson

·         21:36 1st – MOL :: Cooper Sesselman from Alexa Watson

·         20:23 1st – MOL :: Brianna Wilson unassisted

·         18:55 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (2) – Free Position

·         14:27 1st – MOL :: Brianna Wilson – Free Position

·         11:11 1st – MOL :: Alexa Watson from Brianna Wilson

·         9:50 1st – UNH :: Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) (1) unassisted

·         7:08 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (2) from Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) (1)

·         5:02 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (3) from Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) (1)

·         2:45 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (3) unassisted

·         2:13 1st – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1) unassisted

·         1:51 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (4) unassisted

·         27:23 2nd – MOL :: Jessica Markowitz from Brianna Wilson

·         24:19 2nd – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (2) unassisted

·         17:34 2nd – MOL :: Jessica Markowitz unassisted

·         15:00 2nd – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (4) – Free Position

·         14:27 2nd – MOL :: Brianna Wilson from Cooper Sesselman

·         11:00 2nd – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (5) – Free Position

·         9:59 2nd – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (3) from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1)

·         9:03 2nd – MOL :: Cooper Sesselman – Free Position

·         4:48 2nd – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (6) unassisted

·         4:16 2nd – MOL :: Kelsey Hammel unassisted

HIGHLIGHTS

·         Mazliah opened up the scoring for New Haven with the first goal of the season off an assist from Cietek. Less than four minutes into the action, the Chargers extended an early lead to 3-0 with Reh and Cietek each netting the first scores of the season.

·         Cietek would make her day a multi-goal game as she broke a Molloy rally that tied the game at three with her second of the day, unassisted.

·         After facing its first deficit of the season, New Haven rattled off back-to-back-to-back goals from Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) and a pair for Mazliah to regain a two goal advantage. The score for Maher was the first of her career, while Mazliah secured her 10th career multi-goal game.

·         The Blue and Gold extended that rally through the end of the first half adding three more goals to finish the first period on a 6-0 run and take a 10-5 lead over the Lions. Mazliah added to her tally on the day finishing the opening half with four goals, one shy of her career-high. Cietek closed out the opening half with three goals.

·         At the intermission, freshman goalie Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) had stopped six Molloy attempts, facing a total of 16 shots as the Lions led the shot battle 16-15.

·         After the break, O'Brien put her second notch on the scoreboard on the afternoon, pushing the Chargers lead back to five at 11-6.

·         Nearly midway through the second half, goalie Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) made a key save that eliminated an opportunity for the Lions to pull within three goals. The save for Rinsky led to a free position goal for Cietek, her fourth score of the day.

·         The Blue and Gold offense would go back-to-back once more with 10 minutes to play in the contest with Mazliah having a hand in both goals. The junior would score the first goal in the rally off a free position attempt before assisting O'Brien on completing her hat trick.

NEXT ON TAP
The Chargers return to West Haven for their home opener on Monday afternoon when they host crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University at Kayo Field. The NE10 opener for both teams is slated for a 3:30 p.m. opening draw.