Stevenson women’s lacrosse (4-1) claimed a 16-12 victory over St. Mary’s College of Maryland (0-4) on Wednesday night under the lights of Mustang Stadium. Graduate student Erin Steinberg reached a milestone during the game, netting her 100th combined career goal. She scored 50 goals during her time at the University of Mary Washington and added her 50th as a Mustang against the Seahawks.
Mother nature trying to make the playing environment interesting spared the Mustangs as graduate student Sophia Murray described the team was “prepared and expecting to play in a torrential downpour, so the light rain we got during part of the game was wonderful.”
Kellyann Coccia opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 12:35 in the first quarter, followed by Olivia Galati’s goal just over a minute later for a quick 2-0 Stevenson lead. St. Mary’s responded with its first goal of the night two minutes later, but the Mustangs answered with a two of their own, courtesy of Kara Yarusso and Steinberg, to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Seahawks fought back with two more goals before Yarusso struck again. St. Mary’s added one more in the final minute of the quarter, but Stevenson held a 5-4 edge heading into the second.
The second quarter saw another offensive burst from the Mustangs, who put up five goals while the Seahawks tallied four. Sophia Murray and Steinberg each found the back of the net early, but St. Mary’s responded with two of their own. Galati answered with back-to-back goals to push the lead to 9-6. The Seahawks added two more before halftime, while Coccia notched her second goal of the night to keep Stevenson in front, 10-8, at the break.
Stevenson came out firing in the third quarter, led by Maddie Kline, who scored just over two minutes in. St. Mary’s cut the deficit to one with a goal at 10:58, but the Mustangs seized control with a dominant five-goal run. Yarusso kicked things off with two straight goals, followed by scores from Galati, Murray, and Steinberg. Steinberg’s goal at 1:50 marked her 100th combined career goal, capping off a dominant quarter.
Despite being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, Stevenson’s strong lead held up as the Seahawks managed three late goals. The Mustangs secured the 16-12 win, closing out the game with a solid defensive stand.
Yarusso led the charge with a seven-point performance, tallying four goals and three assists. Galati, a first-year standout, also scored four goals, while Steinberg marked her career milestone with a hat trick. Coccia contributed two goals and an assist, and Murray added two goals along with two draw controls. Isabelle VanEmburgh led Stevenson in draw controls with four, while Regan Torbert anchored the defense with 12 saves in goal.
As the team prepares to host RIT, Murray shared her thoughts on what the team is doing to prepare. “We’ve been able to play well in our last few games through a couple quarters, but we want to show up against RIT and everyone else to play a full four quarter game of top-level Stevenson lacrosse. Once we get to that point, there’s no telling what we can accomplish.”
Stevenson looks to pick up its fifth consecutive win. The Mustangs remain home as they will host RIT Wednesday at 3 p.m. You can stream it here.
