Blackbirds Drop Northeast Conference Opener to Sacred Heart, 13-7

(box score)

3/23/07-- The Long Island women’s lacrosse team dropped its Northeast Conference opener at Sacred Heart on Friday afternoon by a score of 13-7. The Blackbirds fell behind just 11 seconds into the contest and were unable to overcome the early deficit.

Freshman Kristina Scheerer (West Chester, Pa.) led LIU with three goals, while senior Amy Rizzo (Jackson, N.J.) added two goals and an assist. The Blackbirds were outshot, 32-16, and had just seven draw controls to 15 for the Pioneers.

Sacred Heart (2-3, 1-0 NEC) took the lead off the opening draw when Katie Salamone took draw control and raced in on goal for the first of her three goals on the day, just 11 seconds into play. Scheerer and SHU’s Brianna Bubeck traded goals over the next 10 minutes. Bubeck’s second goal sparked a 5-1 run for the Pioneers, which helped build a 7-3 margin at the 5:36 mark. A goal from Rizzo was the only LIU goal to interrupt SHU’s spurt.

Long Island (1-5, 0-1 NEC) managed to gain some momentum heading into halftime when senior Jack McCormick (Liverpool, N.Y.) took a pass from Rizzo and scored just 22 seconds before the intermission to make it 7-4 at the break.

Sacred Heart opened the second half with a pair of goals to push the lead to 9-4 before Rizzo’s second goal of the day cut the deficit to 9-5 with 13:05 to play. The Pioneers pushed the lead to 12-5 with a run of three straight goals, the last of which was scored by Bubeck with 3:07 to play.

LIU struck for a pair of late goals from freshman Jillian Maricondo (Levittown, N.Y.) and Scheerer to account for the final margin.

Bubeck led SHU with four goals, while Salamone added three scores. Liz Ottey had a goal and two assists. Chelsea Wagner finished with five saves to pick up the win.

The Blackbirds return to action on Sunday, March 25, with a noon game at Quinnipiac.