NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 20 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team (9-5, 6-4, NE10) closed out the game with 10 unanswered goals to win its 12th consecutive rivalry battle against Southern Connecticut State University. Leading the Chargers on the day was junior midfielder Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) who finished with nine points, the fifth time this season she has finished with eight or more.
Reh's team-high nine points came on a team-high four goals and five assists. Joining Reh in leading the team with four goals was senior attack Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) who also added one assist for five total points. Sophomore attack Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) and junior attack Julia Jette (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) each finished with a hat trick on the day, with Jette's being her third straight game with a three-goal tally.
The final three goals for New Haven came from sophomores Raven Linton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Notre Dame) and Kendra Nolan (Oak Ridge, N.J. /Jefferson Township ) and freshman Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry). Joining Reh in leading the Chargers in helpers was sophomore attack Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) who dished out three assists.
Between the pipes, sophomore Gianna Guerra (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) completed her fifth game of the season with double digit saves, securing 12 as she returned to the lineup for the first time since April 3. The win for Guerra is her second of the season, while the seven goals allowed was her least surrendered when playing the full 60 minutes.
It would take nearly four minutes before either team would find the back of the net with the Owls striking first before New Haven responded with back-to-back tallies that came nearly six minutes apart. Jette was the first Charger to score on the day, connecting on a shot just 29 seconds after the opening goal from Southern Connecticut. Nolan scored her lone goal of the day just shy of 10 minutes into the game, providing the Chargers first lead of the afternoon.
That pattern of a single Southern Connecticut goal followed by two from the Chargers continued over the next six total goals in the contest, all concluding with a 6-3 lead for New Haven. Three different players scored in that stretch with Mazliah scoring two of the goals including a man-up tally with 5:35 left before the break. Also included in that stretch was the Chargers first free position goal, that coming on an attempt by Reh.
Southern Connecticut answered that three goal deficit by scoring three-straight spanning the last two minutes of the first half and the first two minutes in the second half, knotting the game at six. After trading the next two goals, New Haven broke a 7-7 stalemate by scoring the final 10 goals of the game, holding Southern Connecticut off the board for the final 22:50.
Overall in that 10 goal run, Reh led the Chargers with three of her four total goals, while she had a hand in seven of the goals, assisting on four others. All four of Samantha Galler (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield)'s goals came during that late rally, including back-to-back scores that included the second man-up goal of the day. The final two goals in the game came from Mazliah, the last of which came on a man-up free position attempt.
New Haven returns to action on Saturday when they continue Northeast-10 action with their penultimate game at Kathy Zolad Stadium, welcoming the Stonehill Skyhawks to West Haven. Opening draw against the Skyhawks is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.