MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 10 University of New Haven women's lacrosse (11-3, 9-2 NE10) team erased a halftime deficit with a six-goal second half rally and held on down the stretch to score a 12-11 road victory over the Saint Anselm Hawks. Leading the way for the Blue and Gold was graduate midfielder Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) who closed out the contest with seven points on four goals and three assists. She has now scored four or more goals in eight games.

The remaining eight goals for New Haven all came from four different players as Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon), Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) all finished with a multi-goal outing. In addition to Cietek's three assists, Belanger and O'Brien each added an assist to round out the leading scorers with three points apiece. Cietek and Belanger also combined to go 3-of-3 in free position attempts with Belanger netting two of them.

Overall, New Haven trailed Saint Anselm in the shot battle by a 31-26 margin, however the Chargers did finish with 22 shots on goal. Twenty-two of the Hawks shots came in the opening half, while the New Haven defense limited the Hawks to just nine second half shots.

Freshman goalkeeper Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) closed out her third victory, in four total decisions, registering 10 saves, the third time this season she has finished with 10 in a single game.

SCORING

·         28:16 1st – STA :: Meaghan Sheehy unassisted

·         25:08 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1) from Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (1)

·         23:36 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (2) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1)

·         19:39 1st – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1) unassisted

·         18:02 1st – STA :: Meaghan Sheehy unassisted

·         15:34 1st – STA :: Rachel Henderson; Free Position

·         14:11 1st – STA :: Rachel Henderson from Meaghan Sheehy

·         10:31 1st – STA :: Meaghan Sheehy unassisted

·         8:26 1st – STA :: Erica Mattila; Free Position

·         8:02 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1) unassisted

·         7:37 1st – UNH :: Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) (1) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (2)

·         6:16 1st – UNH :: Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) (2) from Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1)

·         1:40 1st – STA :: Rachel Henderson unassisted

·         0:08 1st – STA :: Rachel Henderson; Free Position

·         28:39 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (2) ; Free Position

·         23:23 1st – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (3)

·         18:13 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (3) unassisted

·         15:51 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (1) ; Free Position

·         14:12 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (4) unassisted

·         13:05 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (2) ; Free Position

·         11:46 1st – STA :: Marta Versprille from Meaghan Sheehy

·         9:38 1st – STA :: Emma Palumbo from Marta Versprille

·         3:19 1st – STA :: Erica Mattila unassisted

HIGHLIGHTS

·         After giving up an early game-opening goal to the Hawks, New Haven went on its first rally of the afternoon, rattling off three straight goals with the first two coming from junior Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North). Her first in that stretch came off a feed from Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon), while the second, which Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) provided the helper on, came on a second-chance opportunity following a shot on goal from Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford).

·         The final goal in that stretch for the Blue and Gold came on an unassisted attempt from O'Brien.

·         The Hawks responded to that run with one of their own, providing the second lead chance of the day with a five-goal rally that resulted in a 6-3 lead for the home team.

·         New Haven answered that deficit with its second three-goal rally of the opening half as Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) put her first notch on the board with 8:02 remaining before the intermission. The next two goals, including the game-tying tally, came from sophomore Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) as she connected with Cietek and O'Brien, respectively, for the scores.

·         The Hawks would wrap up the opening half with two more goals to take an 8-6 lead into the intermission. Both of those goals came within the final two minutes.

·         New Haven came out of the break with a vengeance as they would hold Saint Anselm scoreless for the first 18-plus minutes, scoring six times in that stretch. Cietek led the way in that flurry of goals as she scored three times while Belanger added her two goals in the contest during that stretch, both of which came on free position attempts.

·         The Hawks regained momentum in the contest with their first of three goals in the final 12 minutes, with Belanger's goal at 13:05 the last time the Chargers would find the back of the net.

·         Saint Anselm looked to have tied the game with under 10 seconds remaining, however after discussion the Hawks had requested a timeout prior to scoring the goal, which reset the end of the game. The Hawks managed to get a free position attempt on goal in the last ditch efforts with Rinsky coming up big with her 10th save of the afternoon.

NEXT ON TAP
The Chargers close out a four-game road trip when they travel back to the Granite State for a second-straight game in Manchester, N.H. Rounding out the road trip is a date with the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Wednesday afternoon with the opening draw set for 4:00 p.m. at Larkin Field.