ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 22, 2012) – Senior attack Michelle Buonacuore (Medford, N.J.) and sophomore midfielder Kara Rafferty (Bayshore, N.Y.) combined to score 13 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Championship with an 18-8 win at Nazareth College Sunday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. With the win, Stevens improves to 4-2 in the conference and 9-5 overall.
This one did not start well for the Ducks, falling behind 3-0 just 8:03 into the game, but once they got it going, they did not look back, cruising down the stretch for a 10-goal victory.
Senior attack Jenna Scheibling (Long Valley, N.J.) put Stevens on the board 8:51 into the game, with Buonacuore scoring three-straight over a span of just 3:18 to give Stevens its first lead of the game (4-3) with 10:06 left in the first half. Rafferty netted her first, followed by scores from sophomore attack Gabrielle Gordon (Flemington, N.J.), junior midfielder Joey Galligan (Burlingame, Calif.) and Buonacuore as Stevens ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take an 8-3 run into intermission.
Nazareth answered with goals from junior midfielder Alyssa Johnston (Canandaigua, N.Y.) and sophomore attack Amy McIntosh (Horseheads, N.Y.) to start the second, but the Ducks continued to extend their lead, answering a 2-0 Golden Flyer run (6-7 overall, 4-2 Empire 8) with a 5-0 spurt of their own. Rafferty tallied twice with Buonacuore, Gordon and Galligan netting tallies as Stevens opened a 13-5 lead with 17:24 to go.
Naz cut the margin to seven 45 seconds after Rafferty's third goal of the game but Gordon's third and Rafferty's fourth and fifth gave Stevens a 16-6 lead. Buonacuore and freshman Gabriela Sanchez (Auburn, N.H.) had the final two Stevens scores.
Junior Meg Collins (Marshfield, Mass.) made seven saves to earn the win in goal for Stevens, also tallying one caused turnover and one ground ball.
Stevens ended with a 36-19 edge in shots and a 17-13 margin in ground balls. The Ducks converted on four of their nine free-position attempts and won 20 of the game's 28 draw controls.
Buonacuore had six goals and one assist along with a ground ball, while Rafferty had five goals and a helper as well as one ground ball, one draw control and one caused turnover. Gordon had three goals and three ground balls, while Scheibling finished with two points. Galligan had two goals and a helper but also had a career-high eight draw controls. Junior midfielder Spencer Waybright (West Hartford, Conn.) had an assist and five draw controls, and senior defender Ashley Carey (Mahopac, N.Y.) picked up three ground balls, controlled a pair of draws and caused one turnover.
Johnston had five points to lead Nazareth and junior attack Megan Cregan (Rochester, N.Y.) had three goals.
Ithaca College will be the top seed and host of the Empire 8 Championship slated for May 5 and 6. Stevens, St. John Fisher College and Nazareth will be the other teams vying for the conference's automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) but the seeds are to be determined.
The Ducks have two games remaining on the regular-season schedule. They will host No. 6 The College of the New Jersey on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. and the finale will be Saturday afternoon, also at home, against Empire 8 rival Hartwick College. Both games will be webcast live at www.Empire8.tv.
