WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Behind its third 20-goal effort of the season, the University of New Haven women's lacrosse team came from behind to defeat the visiting Franklin Pierce University Ravens in the 2018 home opener at Kathy Zolad Stadium. Leading the Chargers offense on the day was freshman midfielder Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) who finished with five goals, while two players, sophomore Kendra Nolan (Oak Ridge, N.J. /Jefferson Township ) and sophomore Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) closed out the day with six points apiece.
Nolan and sophomore attack Olivia Serpa (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) followed Holland in the scoring column with each netting four goals. The four for Serpa was the first of her collegiate career, while she helped the Chargers claw back into the game midway through the first half when she entered the game and scored three-straight goals.
Maher rounded out the leading scorers for the Chargers as she completed her third hat trick of the season while adding a team-best three assists. Juniors Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) and Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) also completed a multi-goal outing with each adding a pair of scores, while Reh added two assists for four total points. Zoe Wilkins (Watchung, N.J./Mount Saint Mary Academy) also added a goal for New Haven, her first of the season.
Nolan and sophomore Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) were both excellent on the draw against the Ravens, pulling down 11 draw controls each which matches the program of 11 draw controls set by Kathryn Campbell '15 in 2015 against Le Moyne.
The Chargers two sophomore goalies combined for a total of 12 saves on the afternoon. Gianna Guerra (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) started the game and finished with five saves, while Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) closed out the day with seven saves as she earned her second victory of the season between the pipes.
The Ravens opened up the game with a flurry of goals, storming out to a 6-0 lead before the Blue and Gold broke through with back-to-back scores from Nolan and Holland. Those two goals came just 44 seconds apart, while Franklin Pierce responded by scoring three of the next four goals to regain a six-goal lead, 9-3 with 7:18 remaining before the break.
Serpa then single handedly cut that deficit in half, coming off the bench for the Chargers. The sophomore scored her first collegiate goal with 6:43 remaining before halftime, adding two more goals over the next four-plus minutes.
Coming out of the intermission, New Haven mustered its first of four second half rallies, scoring the first four goals to knot the game at 10. The four goals came from three different players with Galler leading the way scoring twice in the run, including the first goal which came on a man-up opportunity just 30 seconds into the action. Overall, the four-goal flurry came in under four minutes.
After the Ravens regained a two-goal advantage at 12-10 and 13-11, the Chargers rallied again, this time with a game-high five straight, the first three of which all came out of Nolan's pocket. The transfer from UMass-Lowell combined with Maher and Reh for the first two goals, the second a man-up opportunity, while working solo for the third, which provided the Chargers first advantage of the day at 14-13.
Maher and the first goal of the season from Wilkins provided New Haven largest lead of the day at 16-13, which came just over halfway through the second period. The fourth goal of the day from Serpa came less than a minute later and again led to a three-score advantage, however the Ravens would respond with three straight to knot the game at 17, the third stalemate of the game, with under 10 minutes to play.
New Haven would break that tie with a goal from Reh before the Ravens responded with back-to-back scores to gain a 19-18 advantage with 5:34 remaining. The Chargers didn't back down scoring the final three goals of the afternoon with a score from Maher tying the game at 19 and one from Holland providing the go-ahead tally. She would add one more in the final minute to cement the victory for the Chargers. Over that final five minutes that the Chargers held Franklin Pierce scoreless, the New Haven defense came up big, including a key kick-save from Rinsky on a pointblank shot from the Ravens.
New Haven will remain home for its next game, hosting the league-leading Adelphi Panthers in a battle of teams that remain unbeaten in the Northeast-10. Opening draw under the lights at Kathy Zolad Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
