The Stevenson women’s lacrosse team (6-5 Overall, 0-1 MAC Commonwealth) dropped a tough 17-10 decision to No. 24 Messiah (7-3 Overall, 1-0 MAC Commonwealth) on Saturday afternoon.
Kara Yarusso opened the scoring off a fast-break draw control from Sophia Murray, marking the 200th goal of her career. She shared what that milestone means to her in a postgame interview with GoMustangSports. “Everything just went perfectly on that one and it was an exciting finish.”
Messiah quickly answered to even the score at 1-1 before Kellyann Coccia netted Stevenson’s second goal, assisted by Erin Steinberg, to reach her 100th career point.
Coccia shared what helped reach her to 100 career points in the postgame interview with GoMustangSports. “I couldn’t have done it without my team. It just I really like putting everything together. It’s nice that I got the finishes but I really couldn’t do it without the assists and without everyone running the plays correctly. It just means a lot.”
The Falcons responded with a four-goal run to close the first quarter with a 5-2 lead.
Yarusso once again started the next quarter with a fast-break goal, followed by a tally from Isabelle VanEmburgh off another assist from Steinberg.
Yarusso then completed her hat trick, tying the game at 5-5. Messiah broke the tie with a goal at 8:19, but Olivia Galati, assisted by Marisa Massimini, answered back for Stevenson to even the score at 6-6.
The Falcons closed out the half with three unanswered goals to take a 9-6 advantage into halftime.
Messiah extended its lead with two quick goals in the third quarter before Coccia snapped the five-goal run with her second of the game.
Messiah added another goal late in the frame, but Steinberg responded with one of her own, cutting the deficit to 12-8 heading into the final quarter.
The Falcons struck again early in the fourth before Murray found the back of the net to make it 13-9. After another Messiah goal, Yarusso answered with her fourth of the day, but the Falcons finished strong with three more goals to seal the 17-10 win.
Yarusso led the Mustangs with four goals, while Steinberg recorded four points on a goal and three assists. Coccia added two goals, and both Galati and Murray contributed a goal and an assist apiece. Goalkeepers Regan Torbert and Anna Johnston combined for 12 saves in the effort.
Stevenson now turns its attention to a conference matchup at Eastern in St. Davids, Pa. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m.
