ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT (10-6, 5-4 Liberty League) women's lacrosse team wrapped up their season with a thrilling 17-16 win over Clarkson University (11-5, 4-5 Liberty League) on Senior Day at sun-drenched Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Shelby Vakiner closed out her brilliant career in style, tallying seven goals. She finishes her career with 351 points, 248 goals and 103 assists, all career records at RIT.
Freshman #
Sage Sarkis (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima)# tallied career-highs in points with nine and goals with eight for the Tigers, while #
Corrina Mandell (Corning, NY/Corning East) dished out three assists. (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel)Katelyn Crane (Palmyra, NY/Palmyra-Macedon)# won her final game between the pipes for RIT, making 14 saves.
Christine Wright led Clarkson with six points on five goals and an assist. Katie VandeValk scored four goals, while Alyssa Cristaldi had four points on three goals and an assist. Kara DiNatale took the loss in net allowing 17 goals and making seven saves.
Shots were 31-29 in favor of Clarkson. The Tigers grabbed 22 ground balls to 14 for the Golden Knights. The Tigers were 18-of-24 on clearing attempts and were 3-for-7 on free position attempts. Clarkson was 10-of-10 on clears and went 2-of-7 on free position attempts.
Trailing 12-6 at the half, RIT made a furious comeback in the second half, outscoring the Golden Knights 11-6. Vakiener scored all seven of her goals in the second half, including the game-winner with 4:03 to play in regulation. Sarkis scored four goals in the second half.
VanDeValk and Wright tallied consecutive goals with 7:36 and 6:39 to play in regulation breaking a 14-14 tie and giving the Golden Knights a 16-14 lead.
Sarkis made it 16-15 Clarkson with 5:19 to play on her 48th goal of the season. Vakiener drove to the net and scored with 4:23 to play tying the game at 16-16. On the ensuing draw, Vakiener picked up the loose ball and scored with 4:03 to play giving RIT it's first lead since early in the first half.
Clarkson won the draw and had a chance to tie. Christine Wright drove to the net and fired a shot, but Crane came through for the Tigers making the big save and starting the Tigers clear. RIT got the ball down into their offensive end and ran out the clock for the one-goal win.
