Score: UAlbany 14, New Hampshire 8
Location: Durham, N.H.
Records: UAlbany 8-7 (6-0 America East); New Hampshire 6-8 (4-2 America East)
Short story: The University at Albany women's lacrosse team won its eighth straight game Saturday, beating New Hampshire, 14-8, in Durham. The victory sets up a matchup for the America East Tournament's No. 1 seed Saturday against Stony Brook at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
Key stats
- Sam Tortora led four UAlbany players who scored at least three goals. She finished with five goals and three assists. Emma Powlin, Kaylee Rickert and Kendra Harbinger scored three apiece.
- Kyla Zapolski's seven draw controls and Jordyn Marr's five helped UAlbany dominate draw controls, 16-8.
- In the cage, Erin Leghart made 11 saves for a .579 save percentage.
Quote
Interim head coach Jessica Davos: "The team had heavy legs today coming off of the Notre Dame game, but we were able to fight through and get a really important win. Now our attention turns to playing a very talented Stony Brook squad for the right to host the conference tournament."
Recap
Sophomore midfielder Sam Tortora set career highs in points (eight) and goals (five) to help the University at Albany women's lacrosse team defeat New Hampshire, 14-8, on Saturday in Durham.
The Great Danes (8-7) won their eighth in a row to climb above .500 for the first time this season and improve to 6-0 in America East play.
The win sets up a clash for the America East's No. 1 seed on Saturday, when Stony Brook, the nation's No. 1-ranked team, visits Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for a noon draw. The No. 1 seed will host the league tournament May 4 and 6.
Against New Hampshire, whose only league loss this season had come last week against Stony Brook, Emma Powlin, Kendra Harbinger and Kaylee Rickert all scored hat tricks in a game that Great Danes never trailed.
Tortora opened the scoring 5 minutes, 12 seconds into the game. Powlin scored her first and Tortora added another over the next five minutes for an early 3-0 lead.
Tortora's third goal gave UAlbany a 4-1 lead and her fourth made it 6-1. She scored her first four goals in a span of just 18:57.
Harbinger added a goal with 5:07 to go in the first half, and the Great Danes went to the intermission ahead 8-3.
Powlin started the second-half scoring just 49 seconds after the break, and after New Hampshire answered to cut the lead to 9-4, Rickert scored two straight.
UAlbany never led by fewer than five goals the rest of the way.
Erin Leghart made 11 saves to earn the victory in the cage.
