Box Score

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J.- The Immaculata women's lacrosse team clinched their fourth consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) postseason berth on Saturday afternoon by holding on to defeat Centenary (5-7, 4-2 CSAC) by a score of 15-14.  The Macs (6-8) moved to 5-2 in CSAC play, and with one more win in their final two CSAC games, will guarantee a home game in the CSAC Quarterfinals.
 
The game was a tale of two halves as the Mighty Macs dominated in the first half, outscoring the Cyclones 11-3, but Centenary stormed back in the second half before IU held on for the one-goal victory.
 
Sophomore Hannah Verrecchia had a big game, scoring seven goals to bring her team-high total on the year to 46.  Sophomore Nicole Dominick had six points on three goals and three assists, and senior Shannon Neill had five points on three goals and two assists.  Sophomores Rosemarie Reitman and Brittany Whaley each scored once.
 
Senior Elizabeth McBride made 11 saves, including a late on to preserve the one goal lead.  Freshman Bailey Krewson led with seven groundballs while Whaley had seven draw controls.
 
The Mighty Macs stormed out of the gates, scoring the first five goals of the game in the first 10:34 to take control.  Verrecchia scored three of the first four with Neill getting her first of the game to stake IU to a 4-0 lead.  Dominick would get a helper from freshman Amanda Maher just 25 seconds after Verrecchia's third goal to put IU in front 5-0 early on.
 
The Cyclones finally got on the board at the 18:42 mark, but Verrecchia scored her fourth just 16 seconds later to keep IU in front by five.  Dominick's second extended the Mac advantage to 7-1.  Centenary would score two of the next three to cut the deficit to 8-3 with 4:33 remaining.
 
IU finished the half with a flurry as Neill scored her second and third goals of the half, and Verrecchia got her fifth of the half to send the Macs to the locker room in control at 11-3.
 
Centenary would start the second half the way that the Macs did in the first as they scored five of the first six goals over the opening 12 minutes to trim the IU lead to 12-8.  Reitman's only goal of the game came during that stretch, but the Cyclones were closer than they had been since the opening minutes.
 
Verrecchia would score her sixth and seventh of the game around one Centenary goal to keep the Macs in front 14-9 with 15 minutes remaining in the game.
 
The Cyclones scored the next two, but Dominick scored her third of the afternoon at a big time to extend the lead back to 15-11 with 9:36 to play.
 
Centenary scored three more in the next six minutes to cut the Immaculata lead to 15-14, but the IU defense would hold, including a big save from McBride in the closing minutes to give the Macs the win.
 
Immaculata will play another big game on Tuesday night at Marywood at 7 p.m., who they are currently tied in third place in the CSAC with.  The winner is likely to grab the third seed in the CSAC playoffs.
 
NOTES: Neill sits at 99 career goals and needs just one more to become the eighth 100-goal scorer in program history … She also needs just five points to become the third 200-point scorer in program history and four  more assists to become the first Mighty Mac ever to reach 100 assists.