Late Run Foils Goucher Women's Lacrosse Against Gwynedd Mercy, 12-10

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – Gwynedd Mercy University scored five of the final six goals to upend Goucher College 12-10 in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Saturday.

Julia Gazzola (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) paced the Gophers with her second-straight hat trick along with an assist. The sophomore added three draw controls and two ground balls. Gazzola, who ranks second on the team with nine markers and three helpers for 12 assists, now has two hat tricks this season and 10th in her career.

Shannon Stull (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key) notched her first hat trick of her senior campaign. The senior now has 22 hat tricks in her career and 120 goals in her four-year career in Baltimore.

Alyssa Long (Pennsbury, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) added two tallies and an assist along with three caused turnovers, a draw control and a ground ball. The senior, who notched her 100 career draw control in the match, registered her second-straight multigoal performance and 15th of her career.

The Gophers grabbed a 9-7 lead with 18:27 left in the second half thanks to consecutive Goucher scores. Stull found the twine for the third time on the afternoon to give Goucher an 8-7 lead with 26:28 left and then Camryn Agostino (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) fed Gazzola with 18:27 on the clock to extend the margin to two tallies.

The Griffins then scored the next five markers to take a 12-9 lead with four minutes left in the game. Long handed out an assist to Gazzola with 61 seconds left to set the final score at 12-10.

In the first half, the Gophers jumped out to a 3-1 and 6-3 advantages but each time the Griffins came back to tie the match.

Gabrielle Umstead (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) handed Goucher a quick 1-0 lead when she scored off Lia Oren's (Milwaukee, Wisc./Nicolet) first collegiate assist at 26:40. After Gwynedd Mercy tied the game, Long registered the next two scores off an 8-meter tally at 18:51 and an unassisted goal at 17:38 for a 3-1 edge. 

After the Griffins came back to tie the game at 3, the visitors scored three unanswered goals for a 6-3 lead with four minutes left in the first half. Umstead set up Stull's first goal of the game at 12:31, Gazzola connected with Emily Flinn (Ashland, Va./Patrick Henry) at the six-minute mark and Agostino and Gazzola hooked up for the first time on the day at the four-minute mark. Gwynedd Mercy then scored the next three goals to go into the break even at 6.

Stull gave Goucher a 7-6 and 8-7 lead on unassisted tallies at 28:46 and 26:28, but after Gazzola scored off an Agostino pass at 18:27, the Griffins scored the next five markers and never looked back for the victory.

Delany Comerford (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) paced the defense with four caused turnovers and three ground balls with Abby McHerron (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills) made five saves in the first half and Belle Christ (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) turned away three shots in the second half.

Goucher returns to action at home on Monday in the first-ever meeting against Averett. Game time is 4 p.m.