LIU Post women sneak by New Haven, 7-5

Thomas Scavetta

The freshman midfielder Ryan McKinney on the LIU Post women’s lacrosse team had a break-out game as she scored three goals to propel the No. 5 ranked team (3-1) to a 7-5 win over fourth ranked University of New Haven (2-1), on Saturday, March 12, at Panther Stadium in New Haven, CT. 

McKinney punched in two of her three markers in the opening stanza. Senior attacker Emily Delaney and junior attacker Stefani Vagelatos scored 55 seconds apart, giving the Pioneers a 4-1 halftime lead.

In the early moments of the latter stanza, New Haven’s junior attacker Corinne Fisher scored back-to-back free-position goals to open the second half, closing the gap to 4-3 with 26:43 remaining. It was all Post from that point on though; as the Pioneers answered every goal the Chargers scored for the remainder of the game. 

In addition to McKinney’s three point effort, Delaney logged one goal and two assists for three points in the win. Vagelatos also pitched in, recording two points (one goal, one assist). Junior defender/midfielder Cara Douglas had a solid outing, tallying a goal, four ground balls, four caused turnovers and won two draw controls.

Defensively, the Pioneers held New Haven without a shot and forced four turnovers in the last eight minutes of action, which was enough to claw out the victory. Sophomore goalie Olivia Kirk had a career-high 12 saves for LIU Post. Her counterpart, junior net-minder Alyssa Gionatti, denied 11 shots for the Chargers. 

Head LIU Post women’s lacrosse coach Meghan McNamara and the Pioneers return to the field on Wednesday, March 16, when they make the trip to Philadelphia, Pa. for a matchup with Philadelphia University. Opening draw is slated for 4 p.m. 

This article was originally published in the Pioneer, the award-winning student newspaper of LIU Post, www.liupostpioneer.com, and is republished here by Blank Slate Media with the permission of the Pioneer. 

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