PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's lacrosse kept its winning ways going on Saturday afternoon, defeating St. Vincent for the first time in the program's young history, 12-9.
Not only was the victory the first over the Bearcats, but it also matched the most wins in a single season for the red and white.
The first quarter ended where we started, in a draw, with the score sitting 3-3 going into the second.
At 8:28, Jade Fuccaro opened the scoring for the afternoon, but the Bearcats struck for three in a row over a span of 1:22, taking a 3-1 edge.
With 4:13 remaining in the first, Alex Mecchia cut the deficit to 3-2, then with 1:38 on the clock, Kiki Nemcek tied the game at 3-3.
Fuccaro again opened scoring in the second quarter, just 28 seconds in, giving the lead back to La Roche, 4-3, but at 11:31, a St. Vincent goal tied the game yet again.
Alecia D'Urso would provide the first two-goal cushion for the Redhawks, scoring at 9:40 and 9:27 to up the margin to 6-4.
After the Bearcats scored at 5:01 to make it 6-5, Jaisey Reiser would set up Fuccaro and Nemcek at 3:26 and 1:35, to help take an 8-5 lead into the half.
Out of the half, the third quarter was incredibly defensive, with St. Vincent scoring the lone goal of the quarter and heading into the fourth, the score sat 8-6 in favor of La Roche.
The Redhawks made sure there was some insurance to the lead in the fourth, as Reiser picked up another pair of assists at 12:12 and 8:59, setting up Nemcek and Sperling to make it 10-6, followed by Nemcek scoring a minute later, making it 12-6.
The Bearcats came back to within three with two goals at 3:40 and 2:06, but Fuccaro would add the punctuation mark at 1:55, assisted by Nemcek.
St. Vincent would score the final goal of the game, but it was too late and La Roche prevailed.
The shot total ended well in favor of the Redhawks, 28-22 and shots on goal were 25-16.
Nemcek put together one of the best all-around games in program history, ending with four goals, one assists, seven ground balls, four draw controls and nine caused turnovers.
Julianna Hornikel earned the victory in goal, stopping seven shots, while also having three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Mecchia added five ground balls, three draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers.
La Roche returns to action on Wednesday, Mar. 19 against Franciscan. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m.