PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's lacrosse had its 2024 home opener on Thursday, defeating Waynesburg 18-7 for its first home opener victory in its four years.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring 2:19 in to take a 1-0 lead, then the Redhawks took charge in a goal filled first quarter.
La Roche went on to score five unanswered goals in a 3:35 second stretch to make it 5-1.
Jasey Reiser netted the first, assisted by Kiki Nemchek. Reiser then scored the second and fourth goals in the stretch, both unassisted.
The third goal was netted by Nemchek, assisted by Kinsey Sperling and the fifth goal came from Jade Fuccaro, assisted by Tea Smith.
The teams then alternated goals, as the Yellow Jackets made it 5-2, followed by the Redhawks making it 6-2 from an Alex Mecchia unassisted goal.
Waynesburg's response made it 6-3, Fuccaro netted her first of the game making it 7-3, the Yellow Jackets then countered to make it 7-4.
La Roche closed the first quarter with the final two goals from Isabella Fittipaldo, assisted by Smith and Smith the scored a player down with 42 seconds left to take a 9-4 lead into the second.
Goal scoring was minimal in the second quarter, but it was the Redhawks burying both.
With 6:47 remaining Sperling found the back of the net, with Reiser picking up the assist, followed by Reiser's fourth of the game at 3:34 assisted by Smith to give La Roche an 11-4 lead at the break.
Out of the break, Waynesburg scored quick like the beginning of the game, just 49 seconds in to make it 11-5.
Three straight Redhawk goals followed, as Fuccaro scored her second at 9:18, assisted by Sperling, then 6:40 later, Reiser scored her fifth of the day unassisted.
With 1:09 to go in the third, Fittipaldo scored her second, assisted by Fuccaro, but the Yellow Jackets scored just 12 seconds later to make it 14-6 going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was more La Roche domination, scoring four of the five goals, including the first three of the frame.
Nemchek, Sperling and Smith were the goal scorers, all unassisted, doing so in a 3:18 stretch, making it 17-6 and putting the running clock into effect.
Waynesburg's final goal came a player up with 3:56 remaining and the final tally of the game, scored by the Redhawks at 2:16 as Smith netted another unassisted goal.
La Roche outshot the Yellow Jackets 35-18 and 25-15 in shots on goal.
Sperling and Smith led the team with seven shots, while Reiser and Fuccaro each had six.
Reiser and Smith matched for the team high of five shots on goal, while two others had four and two had three.
In goal, Julianna Hornikel mad eight saves, facing 15 shots in the game, while matching Nemchek with a team-high five ground balls.
The Redhawks return to the field on Saturday, Mar. 9 when they host Westminster. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.