DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – A late goal by senior Trish Brisotti helped the LIU Post women's lacrosse team end a late charge by the Mercy College Mavericks as the Pioneers remained perfect in East Coast Conference play with an 18-17 victory on the road on Saturday, April 6.
 
Brisotti was one of five Pioneers with at least three goals in the game, adding one assist for four points. Junior Brianna Feldman led LIU Post with four goals, while juniors Paige Sherlock, Sara Stephens, and Alyssa Mallery tallied three goals apiece. Junior Angela Deren added a team-best three assists, while freshman goalkeeper Hailey Duchnowski compiled 13 saves to earn the victory.
 
LIU Post held a slight edge in shot attempts, 36-32, though the Mavericks tallied 30 shots on goal to just 29 for the Pioneers. The Green and Gold overcame a 15-8 deficit in turnovers by holding a 20-15 advantage in draw controls.
 
Mercy jumped out to a lead just 53 seconds into the game when Hunter Isnardi found the back of the cage on a free position attempt. From there, the Green and Gold grabbed full control of the first half with three unanswered goals, including a pair by Mallery to give LIU Post a 3-1 lead. After trading goals to make it 5-4, the Pioneers ran off three consecutive goals for the second time in the half to take a 7-3 lead at the midway point of the period.
 
The back-and-forth runs continued as Mercy posted three goals to get within one goal (7-6) before the Pioneers added three unanswered once again behind two goals by Sherlock. The Mavericks scored one goal late in the half to make it a 10-8 game at the halftime break.
 
Mercy eventually tallied four straight goals, opening the second half with a 3-0 run at the six-minute mark to tie the score at 10-10. The momentum was quickly halted when Stephens scored 30 seconds later to spark a 5-0 burst by the Pioneers who retook a 15-10 lead with 19:36 to play.
 
The Mavericks rallied on the home turf, however, holding the Pioneers scoreless for over 12 minutes late in the half. A goal by Briana Corace with 11:14 to play led to a 5-0 run to tie the score at 17-17. Feldman collected the ensuing draw control for LIU Post and Brisotti found the back of the net with 2:02 remaining to put the Green and Gold back on top. Mercy had a chance with just over one-minute remaining but Duchnowski shut the door and the Pioneers held possession the rest of the way to hold off the late charge and improve to 5-0 in ECC play this season.
 
LIU Post returns to action at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium on Saturday, April 13 as part of a Battle of the Boulevard doubleheader when the men's and women's lacrosse teams host neighboring New York Institute of Technology. The opening draw for the women's matchup is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.