MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Marissa Daly (Marshfield, Mass.) set a career high with seven points as the Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team outlasted 12th-ranked Molloy College, 19-18, Tuesday afternoon in its 2012 home opener at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks, who have faced four nationally-ranked opponents this season, improve to 2-3, with both wins coming against opponents with national rankings. The Lions drop to 3-3.
Daly matched her career high with six goals and also added an assist. Senior Meghan Smith (Pittsford, N.Y.) potted four goals and handed out a helper.
Daly staked the Hawks to a 1-0 lead just 55 seconds into the contest when she found the back of the net, beating Molloy goalkeeper Laura Vetter.
Kaitlynn Kelly answered for Molloy with a free-position goal just 59 seconds later before Emily Antonette's free-position strike 49 seconds after that gave the Lions a 2-1 lead.
Goals by Smith and Daly 42 seconds apart gave the Hawks the lead back at 3-2 with 24:07 remaining in the opening half.
After Alexa Toscano tied the game 30 seconds later off a feed from Christie Roell, a free-position goal by Smith, followed 26 seconds later by a goal from junior Carrie Brophy (Mansfield, Mass.), opened the Saint Anselm lead to 5-3 with 22:42 left. Junior Britini Hickman (Farmington, N.H.) earned an assist on Brophy's tally.
Kelly answered with a pair of scores 1:11 apart to tie the game at five with 17:33 to play. Alison Scalice gave Molloy the lead at the 16:27 mark, but freshman Kelly Pickett (Chelmsford, Mass.) tied the game when she found the back of the net off a feed from classmate Kaitlyn Stazinski (Pembroke, Mass.) just 15 seconds later.
Molloy buried two straight to take an 8-6 lead with 12:40 remaining, but Daly set up Pickett at the 9:41 mark before scoring her own goal 14 seconds later to tie the game.
After Kelly made it 9-8 in favor of the visitors, Daly took a great feed from Smith and beat Vetter to knot the game with 8:57 left. Stazinski converted a free-position opportunity at the 6:36 mark before Smith's unassisted goal with 5:52 left closed the first-half scoring and sent Saint Anselm to the locker room with an 11-9 lead.
Daly extended the lead to 12-9 1:53 into the second stanza before Kelly made it 12-10 2:40 in. Freshman Sarah Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) gave the Hawks their three-goal lead back 1:10 later before two more Molloy goals sliced its deficit to one at 13-12 just under five minutes into the second half.
Smith and Daly answered with free-position tallies and the Hawks held a 15-12 lead with 20:51 remaining. Kelly and Stazinski would alternate scores before three straight goals by the Lions tied the game at 16 with 14:28 on the clock.
Stazinski snapped the deadlock with a free-position goal at the 10:37 mark, which was followed by Brophy's second of the game at 9:15 and a Doherty free-position strike that made it 19-16 with 7:47 left to play.
Antonette scored 10 seconds later and Roell found the back of the net 47 seconds after that to trim the Hawks' lead to 19-18, but that would be the final goal of the contest as the Hawks held on to win.
Freshman goalkeeper Allee Ramzi (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped a career-high 17 shots, while Vetter made nine saves.
Kelly registered eight goals and an assist for Molloy.
Molloy held a 48-35 advantage in shots, including 30-13 in the second half. The Lions also won the draw control battle, 25-14, including 15-3 in the second period. The Hawks were 6-for-12 on free-position opportunities, while the Lions were 3-for-7.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, March 17 at 1 p.m. when they travel to take on American International College.
