Lady AMCATS Nipped by Blue Jays in GNAC action

NEW BRITAIN – AMCATS Sandy Acosta (Lawrence, MA) and Kylie Dalbec (Portland, ME) both potted hat tricks for AMC, however it wasn't enough as the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays women's lacrosse team defeated Anna Maria 24-9 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game Saturday at Central Conn. State University.

Saint Joseph improved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC. Anna Maria is 0-4 and 0-3 in the conference.

Freshman Katherine Landanno (Winchendon, MA) tipped the twine for her first collegiate goal for Anna Maria while teammates Michelle Costa (Hull, MA) and Emily Adriaansen (Pepperell, MA) each added scores in the loss.

The Blue Jays also set a single-game school record by scoring 24 goals. Gambino finished with seven goals and three assists. She tied the record of teammate Rachel Foster (Newington, Conn.) who also scored seven times against Anna Maria, April 4, 2012.

Erika Leitao (Newington, Conn.) had six goals and three assists for St. Joseph and Eliza Doane (Suffield, Conn.) had five goals and an assist. Foster had three goals for USJ while Haley Tufano (Farmington, Conn.) scored twice and Francesca Mastria (Higganum, Conn.) once.

The teams played on even terms for the first eight minutes. Gambino had a pair of goals and Foster and Leitao one apiece, but Kylie Dalbec and Sandy Acosta each had two goals for Anna Maria and the score was deadlocked at 4-4. Doane scored the go-ahead goal for USJ 8:33 into the contest and that started an avalanche of Blue Jay goals as they scored 10 unanswered goals to lead 14-4 with 9:10 left in the half. Doane scored three times and Leitao and Gambino twice each in the run.

Saint Joseph led 17-6 at halftime and maintained a comfortable margin throughout the second half. Freshman Shannon Donovan (Marlborough, MA) made seven saves in her first collegiate start for Anna Maria.