ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 17, 2010) – Senior captain Alyssa Pigott scored a free-position goal with one second remaining in the game to lift the No. 13 Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team to a 9-8, come-from-behind victory over Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. Pigott capped a 5-0 scoring run over the final 16:44 to erase an 8-4 deficit. The win pushes the Ducks to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the Empire 8, while the Golden Flyers fall to 8-5 overall and 4-2 in the conference.
Stevens jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to a goal from freshman Spencer Waybright and two from junior Christine Smith. Nazareth tallied the game's next two goals before junior Leah Wasserman put away a feed from sophomore Jenna Scheibling to put the Ducks up 4-2.
The Wasserman score was the last for the Ducks for more than 23 minutes, and during that span, the Golden Flyers netted six goals to open up an 8-4 lead with 22:56 remaining. Smith broke the Stevens scoring drought with 16:44 remaining and 10:24 later, junior Pamela Loria scored to make it 8-6. Wasserman tallied a huge score 3:07 later to bring the Ducks within one, and Pigott tied the game at eight with a free-position goal with 35 seconds left.
Sophomore Ashley Carey corralled the ensuing draw control to give the Ducks the final possession and after a Nazareth foul with five seconds left, Pigott scored her second late game-winner of the season.
Senior goalkeeper Shannon McFadden earned the win in net for Stevens, making four saves. Senior Ann Sessler (Cazenovia, N.Y.) made 11 saves for the Golden Flyers despite taking the loss.
Nazareth was led by two goals and two assists from junior Michelle Cook (Waterloo, N.Y.) and a pair of tallies from senior Nora Davis (Syracuse, N.Y.). Davis also had two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Junior Sarah McCaskill (Cypress, Texas) had a game-high four caused turnovers and picked up four ground balls.
Smith led the Ducks with three goals and an assist. She also had three ground balls and two draw controls. Pigott finished with two goals, three draw controls, and a pair of ground balls, while Loria tallied once and scooped up one ground ball. Wasserman netted two goals. Carey had two caused turnovers and three ground balls, while senior Sam Zucker had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior Kate Cox caused a turnover, controlled two draws, and picked up two ground balls.
The Ducks ended the game with a 29-19 advantage in shots and a 21-20 edge in ground balls. The Ducks won 11-of-17 draws and went 2-for-8 on free-position attempts.
Stevens will return to action on Wednesday afternoon when it hosts Cabrini College at 4 p.m. at the De Baun Athletic Complex. The Ducks return to Empire 8 play against Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday in Hoboken. It will also be Spring Sports Day at Stevens. Both games will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com.
