WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 19 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team came just one goal shy of tying the school record for goals in a game with a 24-14 victory over the visiting Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Wednesday at Kathy Zolad Stadium. Leading the Blue and Gold on the day was senior Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) who finished with a career-high seven goals and nine total points.
The nine points for Mazliah is her second straight game and fourth time this season she has finished with eight or more points, while she now stands two points shy of reaching 200 for her career, which would place her eighth on the career points list.
Mazliah was one of two players in the game to finish with six or more goals, joined by junior midfielder Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford). Reh's six goals was the third time this season she has finished with six tallies and the sixth time she has finished with five or more. Overall, Reh finished with seven points adding an assist.
In total, eight different players scored at least one goal for New Haven with sophomore Julia Jette (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) joining Reh and Mazliah with a hat trick her second straight game completing the feat. Additionally, Kendra Nolan (Oak Ridge, N.J. /Jefferson Township ), Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) and Olivia Serpa (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) each added two goals and Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) and Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) each scored once.
Between the pipes, sophomore Erica Rinsky (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) earned the complete game victory, finishing with 11 saves, one shy of her season high 12 set against LIU Post. This is the third straight game that Rinsky has played the full 60 minutes, while she has earned the victory in each of her last four appearances.
Reh scored the Blue and Gold's first three goals of the afternoon, completing her hat trick less than seven minutes into the action. She opened up the day working from left to right around the eight-meter arc, skipping a shot across the turf to the bottom left of the goal. She struck again 150 seconds later, this time working with Jette who provided the pass from behind the cage which Reh one-timed into the upper portion of the goal.
After allowing a third Penmen score, Reh completed her hat trick just prior to the 23 minute mark when she worked around the top of the 12-meter arc and shoveled in her third goal, again skipping her shot to the bottom left of the goal.
Southern New Hampshire once again took a slim one-goal lead, however the Chargers answered that with a goal less than 40 seconds later. After thwarting an offensive possession by the Penmen, Holland finished off the clear attempt and went straight to goal, faking a shot to the right side of the cage before finishing off the transition score with a shot to a wide open left side of the net.
Reh added to her tally with the first back-to-back goals for New Haven, these coming 43 seconds apart, providing the Chargers first lead of the afternoon 5-4. The fourth goal of the day for Reh came on a free position opportunity.
Following a goal from Southern New Hampshire that knotted the score at five, the Chargers clicked into gear and rattled off five-straight to take control of the game. The first of those goals came from Maher on a second-straight free position opportunity, while Linton made quick work of the next possession securing the draw control and driving straight to goal for her second score of the season.
The rally would continue for the Chargers with a fifth New Haven player getting into the action as Mazliah scored her first of the day on a free position attempt. The final two goals in the run came two minutes apart and provided the largest lead to that point, 10-5, with 9:04 to play before the break. Maher would pick up her second goal of the game in unassisted fashion before Reh added to her tally working through traffic to fire straight over the top just outside the crease.
Southern New Hampshire broke up the rally at the 8:45 mark before Reh completed her second hat trick of the afternoon with her sixth goal 44 seconds later. After Alexa Bedell scored her second-straight for the Penmen, Mazliah responded with back-to-back scores to complete her fourth hat trick. The first of those goals for Mazliah came as she took the pass and worked forward from behind the right side of the goal. After getting around to the front, she faked turning directions eluding her defender while firing a shot to the upper right of the goal.
Just over a minute later, Maher pulled up from a free position attempt and found Mazliah who curled around from the right side, took the pass and fired a low skipping shot off the turf from the top of the crease.
The Penmen would pick up a pair of late goals in the opening half before the Chargers closed out the period with back-to-back scores inside the final 32 seconds to take a 15-9 lead into the break. The first of those goals was courtesy of Jette who took a pass from over the top of the cage from Maher. Jette collected and redirected that pass over the head of the keeper. Nolan scored the final goal of the half as she converted on a late free position attempt.
Coming out of the intermission, the Chargers continued their late first half scoring, extending that two-goal rally to as many as four-straight before the Penmen got back on the board. The first score out of the break came from Serpa on a free position attempt. On the restart Serpa worked left to the opposite side of the crease and took a low shot around the new keeper for the Penmen, Leah Olansky.
Just about 60 seconds later, Serpa had another free position opportunity from almost an identical spot, this time pulling up. However, the Chargers would work around the back of the cage to Mazliah who worked around front, rolled off her defender and fired a shot over the top of the outstretched arms of Olansky. That goal would be the first of four-straight that Mazliah would have a hand in, as she provided the assist to Jette next time around for the first of two goals that came 28 seconds apart.
That second goal in that stretch was Mazliah's fifth of the day which set a new season-high for the senior attack. This time around, Mazliah collected a loose ball in front of the crease and swept it into the goal along the turf into the bottom left corner.
After a goal from SNHU's Kristin Wilder, the Chargers again scored back-to-back tallies to take a 10-goal lead, 21-11. The first of those completed the second hat trick of the day for Mazliah as she matched Reh's team-high six goals to this point with an unassisted tally. Serpa would score her second of the day at the 18:43 mark when she collected a pass from Maher who fired straight down the middle of the arc where Serpa collected, turned and quickly fired the shot on goal.
The Penmen responded to that 10-goal deficit by rattling off three-straight before New Haven broke a more than 11 minute drought with a third goal from Jette for her second-straight and fourth hat trick of the season. That goal sparked a three-goal rally for New Haven with the next two coming as the Chargers played a person down.
The first of those player down goals came from Mazliah as she extended her goal tally to a team-high seven, while Nolan rounded out the scoring thanks to a pass from Reh.
Following this short one-game stop at Zolad Stadium, the Chargers will play their next two games on the road, the first a stop in Colchester, Vt. for a date with the Saint Michael's Purple Knights. Opening draw against Saint Michael's is set for 11:00 a.m.
