Women’s lacrosse retains perfect record
MIT surges from behind to earn 14-12 win
Six second-half goals by Isabella D. DiDio ’16 helped fuel MIT’s 14-12 come-from-behind victory over Roger Williams University in a non-conference women’s lacrosse game on Saturday, March 8. DiDio finished with a game-high seven goals and seven draw controls for the Engineers (3-0), who are enjoying their best start in program history. For the Hawks (0-3), Kristen Pingree led the way with three goals and an assist.
Roger Williams opened the game with back-to-back goals from Jessica Searl as the first was assisted by Deven Machette while the second came on a free-position attempt. Kelsey Rahilly extended the visitors’ margin by redirecting a feed from Samantha Davenport after six minutes expired. On the ensuing draw, MIT’s Kira M. Schott ’16 came up with the ball and went directly to net. The Engineers then cut their deficit in half when Erica C. Du ’14 buried a quick pass by Kristyn M. Berretta ’16. Hannah A. Levy ’17 evened the score 15 seconds later with an unassisted marker at the 19:50 mark.
The Roger Williams defense became impenetrable during the next six minutes, forcing several MIT turnovers that eventually resulted in a Pingree goal. DiDio knotted the game at four with 8:40 left in the half but the Hawks controlled the action down the stretch as Rahilly generated a caused turnover deep in her offensive end, scooped up the groundball, and found the back of the net to give Roger Williams a 5-4 edge with seven seconds remaining before the intermission.
DiDio once again recorded the equalizer following her solo effort after two minutes elapsed in the second half. An exchange of goals ensued as Machette put the Hawks up, 7-6, at the 24:21 mark. The Engineers responded with a DiDio free-position goal shortly after the draw and then inched ahead on unassisted markers from Schott and DiDio to claim a 9-7 lead in a span of five minutes.
The back-and-forth scoring resumed until Pingree converted a free-position shot and then set-up Rahilly to even the game at 10 with 9:36 left to play. Despite Roger Williams’s efforts to slow down the action, DiDio replied with three straight goals while Levy added an insurance marker with 1:38 on the clock. Undeterred, the Hawks capitalized on MIT miscues during the waning moments as Lauren Piotrowski and Pingree closed out the scoring.
Schott finished with three goals, three groundballs, and three draw controls while Levy posted two goals and two draw controls. Emma Kane ’15 notched three groundballs, followed by two from Erin B. Kenney ’14. Christine W. Jiang ’16 chipped in two draw controls as goalie Candice I. Kaplan ’15 totaled seven saves and three groundballs for the Engineers.
Rahilly produced a hat-trick along with four groundballs for Roger Williams while Searl had two goals and an assist. Piotrowski scored twice as Machette tallied one goal, one assist, three groundballs, three draw controls, and one caused turnover. Danielle Neagle contributed one goal and an assist while Andie Krefsky tacked on two groundballs. Mackenzie Logan and freshman Everding both collected two draw controls as goalie Kimberly Bolk came away with 10 saves.
MIT returns to action on Tuesday, March 11 when it hosts Eastern Connecticut State University while Roger Williams continues its road trip on Monday, March 10 when it visits the College of Mount Saint Vincent.