ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT (4-6, 1-2 Liberty League) women's lacrosse team got back to its winning ways with a 12-8 victory over crosstown and Liberty League rival University of Rochester (3-7, 0-3 Liberty League) on a chilly Friday afternoon from RIT's Turf Field. With the win, RIT improves to 6-2 all-time versus the Yellowjackets.

The Tigers led 7-4 at the half, and out scored Rochester 5-4 in the second half. Sage Sarkis (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) led RIT with six points on five goals and an assist. Emily Livecchi (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) added four goals, while Sammy Ward (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) had two goals and two assists. Corrina Mandell (Corning, NY/Corning East) tallied a goal and Maegan Schmauder (Franklin, MA/Franklin) added an assist for the Tigers.

"I thought defensively we played very well," said head coach Jeff McGuigan. "Offensively we looked sharp at times, but defensively, we really shut down their top two scorers."

Shots were 22-21 in favor of the Yellowjackets, who held a 25-16 ground ball edge. The Tigers won 14 draw controls, and went 12-of-17 on clearing attempts. RIT went 3-for-4 on free position attempts and committed 30 fouls. Elizabeth Hughes (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) got the win in net for the Tigers, making seven saves. Ward won five draw controls, while Sarkis won four draws.

Madeline Levy and Jamie Wallisch each scored three goals for the Yellowjackets, while Katherine Woo had a goal and an assist. Maire Prosak took the loss in net for Rochester, making four saves.

Sarkis scored the first two goals of the game, giving RIT a 2-0 lead on her 36th goal of the season at the 27:31 mark of the first half. After a Levy goal made it 2-1, the Tigers rattled off two straight, taking a 4-1 lead on Ward's free position goal with 24:24 to play.

Wallisch converted a free position attempt with 19:49 to play, cutting the RIT lead to 4-2. Livecchi scored two straight for the Tigers, giving RIT a 6-2 lead with 15 minutes to play in the half off an assist from Ward.

Sarkis scored with 6:47 to play to increase the RIT lead to 7-3, but Levy scored with three minutes remaining in the half, cutting the RIT lead to 7-4 at the break.

Sarkis opened the second half scoring, giving RIT an 8-4 lead on her 38th goal of the season at the 26:54 mark of the second half. Woo scored off an assist from Elizabeth Watson to cut the lead back to three goals, but Livecchi scored on a nice pass from Sarkis to give the Tigers a 9-5 lead.

After a Wallisch goal cut the RIT lead to 9-6, RIT scored three straight goals, taking a 12-6 lead on Livecchi's goal with 8:08 to play. Sarkis and Ward also scored in the run for the Tigers. Rochester tacked on two late goals to make it a 12-8 final.

Sarkis recorded at least six points for the fifth straight game, as she leads the team in scoring with 52 points on 39 goals and 13 assists in 10 games. Sarkis is just 11 goals shy of 200 for her career.

RIT returns to action on Friday, April 15 when they host William Smith College at 4 p.m.