GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The No. 7 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team used some key defense partnered with a four goals from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and three from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) to score its first ever NCAA Championship victory, 12-10 over the No. 12 Mercy Mavericks in the opening round of the national tournament.
Mazliah's four goals led five different scorers for the Chargers, while she also added a pair of assists for a game-high six points. Cietek also added a helper for four points, while senior's Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) and Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) each added a multi-goal effort, finishing with two apiece. Rounding out the Chargers scoring on the day was sophomore Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) who added one goal and a pair of assists for three points.
Freshman Gianna Guerra (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) closed out an impressive performance between the pipes with 11 saves, none better than a stop that came 67 seconds remaining and helped set up a late defensive stop. Following the save, junior defender Courtney Duffy (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) stepped into traffic and forced a turnover on the Mavericks with 52 seconds remaining, putting control in the Chargers hands. Overall, New Haven forced Mercy into 14 turnovers.
SCORING
· 24:38 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1) unassisted
· 20:04 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (1) from Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) (1), Player-down
· 18:29 1st – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford) (1) from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1)
· 17:20 1st – MER :: Hunter Isnardi unassisted
· 13:47 1st – MER :: Alexa Haines unassisted
· 13:34 1st – MER :: Brittani Sergio; Free Position
· 8:29 1st – UNH :: Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (2) from Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (2)
· 6:07 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (1) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (1)
· 4:51 1st – MER :: Brittani Sergio; Free Position
· 3:41 1st – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (2); Free Position
· 3:22 1st – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (2) from Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (2)
· 0:36 1st – MER :: Hunter Isnardi unassisted
· 0:17 1st – MER :: Brittani Sergio; Free Position
· 27:00 2nd – UNH :: Kendall Cietek (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) (3) unassisted
· 25:37 2nd – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (3) from Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) (2)
· 23:31 2nd – MER :: Hunter Isnardi; Free Position
· 22:26 2nd – UNH :: Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) (4) from Nicole Belanger (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) (4)
· 17:48 2nd – UNH :: Caitlin O'Brien (Branford, Conn./Branford); Free Position
· 15:36 2nd – MER :: Hunter Isnardi unassisted
· 12:42 2nd – UNH :: Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) (1) unassisted; Player-up
· 11:30 2nd – MER :: Katherine Sanchez; Free Position
· 10:31 2nd – MER :: Hunter Isnardi; Free Position
HIGHLIGHTS
· New Haven came out of the gates on an offensive surge, scoring the first three goals of the day and keeping the Mavericks off the board for nearly 13 minutes. Those first three goals all came from different players as Cietek started off the rally while Belanger worked off a feed from Reh for goal number two. O'Brien capped off the run thanks to a helper from Mazliah.
· Mercy put its first goal on the board at the 17:20 mark and turned that into their own three goal rally with the second and third coming just 13 seconds apart.
· After regrouping, the Chargers regained the lead and would never relinquish that advantage the remainder of the day. Belanger's second of the day broke up that Mercy momentum, while Mazliah's first goal of the afternoon put New Haven ahead by a pair with just over six minutes remaining before the break.
· The Chargers added two more goals in the opening half, this time putting both up in a hurry as there was just 19 seconds between the two scores. Cietek converted the first free position goal of the day for the Chargers, partnering with Mazliah's second tally of the after to take a 7-3 lead.
· Mercy went on to score two just prior to the half with the Chargers taking a 7-6 lead into the intermission led by Mazliah's two goals and one assist. Belanger and Cietek each also added a pair of goals.
· Cietek started out the second half the same way she did the first, scoring the opening tally, part of back-to-back scores with Mazliah adding her third of the day thanks to a feed from Reh.
· A single goal from the Mavericks came in the middle of what could have been a four-goal rally for New haven as Mazliah would strike again and O'Brien added to her tally, converting a free position attempts.
· Reh wasn't going to let the seniors have all the action on the day as she also converted a free position attempt with 12:42 remaining for what would turn out to be New Haven's final score of the day.
· After giving up a pair of scores over the next two minutes, the Chargers defense stepped up and held the Mavericks scoreless over the final 10:30 of the afternoon to secure the victory. Over the final 10 minutes, Guerra came up huge with four saves while a fifth shot attempt from the Mavericks careened off the post.
· The Chargers also forced Mercy into a pair of turnovers in that final 10 minute stretch, the most important of which came with 52 seconds remaining when Duffy took the hit from Mercy's Tori DiFusco to force the turnover as the Chargers successfully cleared the ball and ran out the remaining time.
NEXT ON TAP
With the victory, the Chargers advance to the round of eight for the first time in program history and will now face IWLCA No. 1 in the nation Adelphi Panthers looking to advance to the NCAA Division II national semifinals. Opening draw in the second round match-up is slated for 3:00 p.m. at Adelphi's Motamed Field.
