Women's Lacrosse | 5/2/2009 5:27:00 PM
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HOBOKEN, NJ -- The RIT women's lacrosse team advanced to the Empire 8 title game with a 14-6 win over Nazareth College in the semifinals on Saturday. It is the first time the Tigers have advanced to the title game in the program's history. RIT will face St. John Fisher in the title game on Sunday afternoon in Hoboken, New Jersey.
RIT scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back. The Tigers led 8-3 at the half and outscored the Golden Flyers 6-3 in the second half to advance to the title game.
Nazareth out-shot RIT 28-23. The Golden Flyers won the ground ball battle 21-19 and won 12-of-22 draw controls. The Tigers took advantage of their free-position opportunities, going 5-of-7.
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Eileen Hennigan (Liverpool, NY/Christian Brothers Academy)# (Liverpool, NY/CBA) and #
Danielle Previ (Medford, NJ/Shawnee)# (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) led RIT with three goals apiece. #
Ashley Pezze (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland)# (Guilderland, NY) had two goals and two assists. #
Allie Coppola (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)# (Orchard Park, NY) had a pair of goals and #
Nadia Pasicznyk (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia)# (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) had a goal and an assist.
RIT's defense was stout led by Empire 8 Goaltender of the Year #
Kelsey Evans (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley)# (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley). She made 17 saves on the afternoon allowing just six goals.
Megan Henricksen (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) had four caused turnovers and three ground balls. #
Cecilia Enestrom (Medicine Hat, Alberta/Medicine Hat-McCoy)# (Medicine Hat, AB/McCoy) had a caused turnover, three draw controls and a ground ball.
RIT opened the scoring 55 seconds into the game on an unassisted goal by
Ashley Pezze (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland).
The Tigers scored three straight free position goals to take a 4-0 lead. Henricksen, Hennigan and Previ each converted free position attempts for the Tigers.
Nazareth answered back with consecutive goals from Melissa Brennan and Nora Davis to cut RIT's lead to 4-2.
Previ, Coppola, Pezze and Previ again, scored consecutive goals for RIT late in the first half to give the Tigers an 8-2 lead.
Nazareth's Nora Davis rounded out the first half scoring with a goal with 1:25 remaining to make the score 8-3 at the half.
Davis struck 2:30 into the second half for Nazareth to cut RIT's lead down to 8-4.
Hennigan scored an unassisted goal 9:29 into the second half to increase RIT's lead back to five goals.
Kara Kulba's free position goal with 17:44 remaining in the second half cut the Tigers lead down to 9-5.
Pasicznyk, #
Kim Hunt (Brockport, NY/Brockport)# (Brockport, NY) and Hennigan scored three straight goals for RIT increasing their lead to 12-5.
Kulba scored Nazareth's final goal of the game with 13:07 remaining to cut the lead to 12-6.
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Allyson Pisher (Holley, NY/Holley)# (Rochester, NY/Holley) scored on an assist from Pasicznyk to make it 13-6 and Coppola tallied a free position goal with 4:02 remaining to make the final 14-6.
RIT, in just their second appearance in the Empire 8 Tournament, improve to 13-4 on the season. If the Tigers win on Sunday they will earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, their first ever as a program.
