KINGS POINT, N.Y. (May 2, 2024) – The USMMA women's lacrosse season came to an end on Thursday night after a narrow 13-12 home loss to rival SUNY Maritime in the Skyline Conference Semifinals at Brooks Stadium. The top-seeded Mariners finish the year with an 11-3 record, while the fifth-seeded Privateers improve to 10-6 and advance to the Skyline Championship Game on Saturday where they'll travel to #2-seed Farmingdale State.
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Senior
Kaitlyn Latchaw (Phoenix, Md.) led the way offensive for Merchant Marine with five points on two goals and three assists, while classmate
Reagan Jetter (La Jolla, Calif.) added four points by scoring twice and dishing out two helpers. A pair of plebes finished the night with three points apiece, as
Grace Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa.) netted a hat-trick and
Leslie Wysong (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) scored two times and had one assist. Juniors
Gianna Russo (Wake Forest, N.C.) and
Lauren Jablonowski (Levittown, N.Y.) both chipped in with two points each, Russo scoring twice and Jablonowski with one tally and one helper.
Picozzi also secured a game-high seven draw controls, while she and Wysong tied for the team-best with three ground balls each. Senior
Nicole Stefanick (Livonia, Mich.) caused three turnovers to lead the Mariner defenders, while sophomores
Nicole Nagengast (Seaford, N.Y.) and
Emma Barnes (Chillicothe, Ohio) both recorded two CTs apiece. In net, sophomore
Karianna Eagle (Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) made three saves.
Maritime raced out to a 5-0 lead before USMMA got on the board late in the opening quarter. After the visitors tallied the first marker of the second quarter, the Mariners scored four of the next five goals and trailed by two at halftime, 7-5.
Merchant Marine started the third quarter very strong, scoring the first three goals to take its first lead of the night, 8-7. The Mariners later held a 9-8 advantage before the Privateers tallied three-straight to end the third, making it 11-9 in favor of the visitors going into the final quarter.
USMMA tied it up at 11-11 with the first two goals of the fourth, but Maritime answered right back to regain the lead. With under three minutes left, Latchaw charged in front of the net from the back and found the twine to make it a 12-12 game.
With just over a minute left in regulation, the Mariners gained possession of the ball after a Maritime turnover on a clear attempt and the hosts called a timeout. However, a costly turnover out of the break gave the Privateers the ball back with just 51 seconds left and they raced up the field and got into position to be awarded a free-position shot, which they converted the go-ahead goal on with just 15 seconds remaining.
The Mariners won the ensuing draw, but were unable to muster a final attempt before running out of time.
For the Privateers, senior Jenna Lesiewicz led all players on the night with eight points on five goals and three assists, including the game-winning free-position goal. She also led the team with six draw controls, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior Gabrielle Nicolosi added six points after finding the back of the net three times and dishing out three assists. Classmate Tori Koenig made six saves to earn the victory between the pipes.
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