Staten Island, NY – The Wagner women's lacrosse team closed out the 2021 regular season with a dominating 15-6 win over the Merrimack Warriors Saturday afternoon from Hameline Field, four days ahead of the start of the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament.
The trio of seniors
Stefani Peluso and
Erin Kerstetter, as well as sophomore
Megan Greco all had four points on Saturday for Wagner; Peluso and Greco each finished with four goals, while Kerstetter handed out four assists. Junior
Kasey Dorney finished with three ground balls and nine draw controls, graduate student
Megan Drum had two goals and three draw controls, and senior
Madeline Seims had two goals and four ground balls.
On the back line, graduate student
Giaci Vitolo and junior
Aileen Hannan each finished with two caused turnovers. Junior
Lauren DiStefano and sophomore
Jillian Olsen combined for 11 saves in net.
Taylor Darrell and Meghan Dzialo led Merrimack with two goals each; Darrell added an assist for a team-high three points.
How it Happened
One goal apiece from Dorney, Greco, and Peluso staked Wagner to a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game before Merrimack had taken a single shot.
The Warriors pulled within one, but Dorney answered with her second of the game off Kerstetter's first assist.
Merrimack again pulled within one, but Seims, Peluso, and Greco all scored 50 seconds apart, opening a 7-3 Wagner lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the half.
The offense quieted a bit from there, with Greco and Peluso each adding another before the break. In all, Wagner's defense held Merrimack to just six shots on goal during the half.
Drum started the scoring in the second half and, despite an answer from Merrimack 30 seconds later, the Warriors would draw no closer, as four straight from Wagner first activated the running clock at the 15:31 mark.
Peluso sandwiched her fourth of the day around a pair of late goals from Merrimack to close out scoring for the game.
Up Next
The Northeast Conference Tournament begins Wednesday, May 5. The second-seeded Seahawks begin their quest for a third straight conference championship at 3:00 p.m. when they host the third-seeded Long Island University (LIU) Sharks. The top-seeded Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers will host the fourth-seeded Bryant Bulldogs at 1:00 p.m., and the winners of those two games will meet at the highest-remaining seed on Saturday, May 8 for the conference championship.
