PITTSBURGH, Pa. – When building a team from the ground up, there are trying times and positive times, ups and downs. Those trials and tribulations all culminated in a celebration on Thursday afternoon, as La Roche women's lacrosse downed Mt. Aloysius, 16-9, to become the 2025 AMCC Regular Season Champions.
The first half as a whole was a battle as both teams played sound defense. The first quarter ended in favor of the Redhawks, 3-2.
Jasey Reiser would open the scoring at 13:58 when Alecia D'Urso set her up to make it 1-0, then 5:40 later, D'Urso would net her first of the game to up the edge to 2-0.
Mt. Aloysius would respond with a pair of goals to tie the game at 2-2, until Reiser, on an assist from Kiki Nemcek, gave La Roche a 3-2 lead with 1:36 to go in the first.
Reiser's goal was the start of four straight, including three to open the second quarter, with Reiser and D'Urso each scoring one, while D'Urso also set up Jade Fuccaro and the lead ballooned to 6-2.
The Mounties would work the final five minutes of the first half to trim the deficit to 6-4 going into the half.
Out of the break, both teams traded goals in the first 5:16, with the Redhawks scoring first when Kinsey Sperling found Fuccaro.
After the Mt. Aloysius goal at 9:44, it was nearly five minutes without a goal, then La Roche poured in four straight, including Fuccaro from D'Urso, two by D'Urso, one of which was from Fuccaro and one by Nemcek, all building an 11-5 lead.
The Mounties ended the third quarter with a goal and then opened the fourth just 32 seconds in with another, moving the score to 11-7.
La Roche then locked in, scoring five of six goals in the next 10 minutes to put the game on lock.
Alex Mecchia found the back of the net first, then Sperling earned her 100th career point, assisting Fuccaro.
Mt. Aloysius would then make it 13-8, then the Redhawks rattled off their final three goals of the game by Nemcek (assisted by Sperling), Reiser from Nemcek and capped off by another from Reiser, assisted by D'Urso.
The shot totals ended in favor of La Roche, outshooting Mt. Aloysius, 31-22 and 24-20 in shots on goal.
Goalkeeper Jualianna Hornikel came through with 11 saves in the game, facing 20 shots.
Nemcek had one of the best all-around games in program history, coming away with two goals, two assists, five ground balls, 10 draw controls and nine caused turnovers.
La Roche enters the AMCC Tournament as the #1 seed and will host #4 Hilbert to open tournament play on Tuesday, Apr. 29. Opening draw is set for 3 p.m.