NORTH ANDVOER, Mass. – Led by a team-high four goals from freshman midfielder Emily Holland (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry), the No. 19 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team (12-6) had its quest for a Northeast-10 Conference championship come to an end on Wednesday night, dropping a 14-10 decision to the No. 16 Merrimack Warriors.
Holland was one of five goal scorers for the Blue and Gold and one of two who finished with a hat trick as she was joined by junior midfielder Mackenzie Reh (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) who finished with six points total on three goals and three assists. The six points for Reh give her 98 total for the season as she moves into second in a single season in program history. Rounding out the goal scoring for New Haven was senior attack Jessica Mazliah (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and sophomore attacks Julia Jette (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and Caroline Maher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield).
Suffering the loss between the pipes for New Haven was sophomore Gianna Guerra (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) who finished with 13 saves, her sixth straight game in double figures. Among Guerra's 13 saves was the 200th of her career as she becomes the fifth player in program history to record at least 200 career stops.
After a turnover by the Warriors on the opening possession, New Haven opened up the scoring just under 90 seconds into the game when Reh got on the board with an unassisted score. Reh collected a pass at the top of the 12-meter fan, curled around the outside of the eight-meter arc and fired from the left side about five yards out on the angle.
After a pair of turnovers against the Warriors on their next couple possessions, New Haven struck again just over three minutes later when Holland converted on a free position attempt, firing over the top of the keeper as she was knocked to the turf.
Maher added to the Chargers lead, making it 3-0, with a second-chance opportunity. Three yards off the goal line, Maher battled in from the side of the goal, through a pair of defenders and scored from straight out at the top of the crease.
Overall, New Haven held the Warriors scoreless for over 18 minutes of the game, forcing Merrimack into eight turnovers in that stretch. The Chargers also fended off five total shots, with Guerra making two saves and one shot deflecting off the pipe. Three of those shots averted by New Haven came on free position attempts.
After Merrimack broke up the shutout, the Chargers responded less than 60 seconds later when Reh netted her second of the day, again unassisted. Much like Maher, Reh worked in from three yards off the line, curled around her defender and fired from the top of the crease. The Warriors responded to their second three-goal deficit by closing out the half with the final seven goals before the break, taking an 8-4 lead into the intermission. During that late rally for the Warriors, Guerra came up with a pair of stops to keep the deficit manageable, with the second of those saves the 200th of her career.
Coming out of the break, both teams would have opportunities in the first few minutes, but the Chargers were the first to break through scoring just shy of five minutes into the action when Holland scored her second of the game courtesy of a pass from Reh. After working in and to the right from the top of the fan, Reh fired across the crease to Holland who collected and quickly redirected a shot over the head of the keeper to pull within three scores 8-5.
After a pair of saves from Guerra on the defensive end, the Chargers took one more goal off the deficit just past the 10 minute mark when Mazliah broke into the scoring column with an unassisted tally. Mazliah, working one-on-one with her defender stormed into the crease and fired from six yards out.
Defensively, the Chargers again came up big in the beginning of the second half, holding the Warriors scoreless for the first 11 minutes. Guerra came up big during that stretch, facing five shots and recording saves on all five. New Haven also forced three turnovers in that time. However, Merrimack broke up that strong early defense with back-to-back scores just 32 seconds apart to regain a four-goal advantage with 18:30 remaining.
After a four minute scoreless stretch for both teams, Reh completed her hat trick for the day with 14:12 remaining. The attempt from Reh, which came just under a minute after Guerra stopped a free position attempt for the Warriors, came from the middle of the crease. Holland then matched Reh's team-lead with her hat trick goal coming 58 seconds after Reh scored to again cut the deficit to a pair of scores.
Just inside the final 10 minutes of regulation, Holland added another to her tally thanks to a pass from Reh. The junior midfielder, Reh, faked a drive into the crease, instead passing over the top to Holland who quickly turned and fired to the top shelf of the goal. The Warriors responded by retaking a two-goal lead just under 2:30 later on a free position goal.
However, New Haven responded with a big save for Guerra and after Raven Linton quickly cleared the ball, Jette broke through for the first time as she connected with Reh who secured her fifth point of the night. From the top of the arc, Reh curled around a defender to her right and passed across the crease where Jette redirected the pass faster than the keeper could turn to pull back within one at 11-10.
