ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's lacrosse team (4-3, 1-0 Liberty League) opened up Liberty League play by rallying to defeat the University of Rochester (4-2, 0-1 Liberty League) by a score of 8-6 on a cold Saturday afternoon at the RIT Turf  Field.
 
Down 6-5 with just over 11 minutes left, RIT's Sage Sarkis (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) scored the final three goals of the contest, all on free position shots. Sarkis, who set a RIT single-game record with 10 goals in Thursday's 13-12 win over SUNY Potsdam, scored four goals in today's victory for RIT, giving her 27 in just seven games this season.
 
Sarkis tied the game with 11:04 left, and put RIT up for good with a shot through the goaltender's legs with 6:36 left. Just 1:59 later, Sarkis gave RIT an 8-6 lead with another free position goal to the far side of the net.
 
RIT goaltender Caitlin Conway (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) was excellent, stopping 12 shots for her fourth win of the season. She made seven first half stops and five more in the second half. RIT's defense stiffened over the final 30 minutes, allowing just one goal.
 
Nicole Bingo (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) scored a pair of first half goals for the Tigers, while Ashleigh Caruso (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) added a goal and an assist. Kirsten Francis (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) also scored for the Tigers and grabbed a team-high six ground balls.
 
Lauren Basil scored three goals and added two assists to lead Rochester. Jamie Wallisch scored two goals and dished out two assists, while Breanna Taylor also scored. In goal, Marissa Traina made eight saves in the loss.
 
Both teams scored five goals in the first half. Basil opened the scoring just 2:42 into the contest before RIT rattled off three straight goals in a four-minute span to go up 3-1. Bingo scored both her goals in that run. Wallisch cut the RIT lead to 3-2 with 14:28 left in the half before Francis put RIT back up two goals. Basil and Wallisch scored 1:55 apart later in the half to tie the game before Caruso answered right back for RIT 21 seconds later. Taylor completed the scoring in the first half with 7:19 remaining.
 
Basil gave Rochester a 6-5 lead just 57 seconds into the second half. That would be the final goal Rochester would score on the day, as RIT's defense was stout in the second half.
 
Rochester out-shot RIT 25-20, but committed 26 turnovers to RIT's 21. Rochester won the ground ball battle 30-29 and won 12 draw controls to just four for RIT. Rochester was 17-for-21 on clears, while RIT was 19-for-28.
 
The Tigers are 4-2 all-time against Rochester. Last season, Shelby Vakiener (Fairport, NY/Fairport) scored nine goals in a 14-13 win over Rochester.

The Tigers are back in action on Friday, April 4, as they head north to play Liberty League foe St. Lawrence at 4 p.m.