Salem, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team withstood Roanoke College's comeback bid and came away with a 14-11 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon. Junior captain Tori Poffenberger (Sharpsburg, Md./Boonsboro) garnered game-highs of six goals and seven points in the Seahawks' second straight win.

Roanoke (1-3) erased a four-goal halftime deficit by outscoring St. Mary's, 5-1, to even up the score at 9-all with 23:18 left in the game. The Seahawks put together a run of their own in response, reeling off four straight for a 13-9 lead at 12:49 as Poffenberger netted the last two in the 4-0 run. The Maroons then cut SMCM's lead in half at 6:28 with back-to-back goals in 49 seconds.

Over the next six minutes, St. Mary's (8-2) claimed the ensuing draw control and earned three straight free position attempts before turning the ball over. Roanoke's possession was short-lived with a turnover of its own, allowing St. Mary's to fire off a shot at 2:43 which was denied by senior goalkeeper Lauren Curtin (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve).

First-year Lexi Thorne (Riva, Md./Pallotti) turned away an RC attempt at 1:52 but a failed clear put the ball in the hands of the Maroons with under a minute left and sophomore attacker Courtney McCartin (Ashton, Md./Good Counsel) drew a foul inside the eight-meter for a free position shot. However, McCartin's shot was stopped by Thorne.

Sophomore midfielder Ali Moulis (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne's County) sealed the deal for St. Mary's with a goal with 28 seconds remaining. Roanoke won the last draw control of the game and gained another free position shot but the shot went wide.

Sophomore midfielder Erika Kopf (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) finished the afternoon with four points on two goals and two assists while senior captain Christy Bishop (Glenwood, Md./Glenelg) and sophomore attacker Meg Gesner (Severna Park, Md./Severn) each tallied two goals to join Poffenberger with multiple goals today.

St. Mary's outshot the hosts, 39-26, and edged the Maroons, 13-11, in ground balls as junior midfielder Shelby Newman (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley), Bishop, and Poffenberger each had two. Roanoke posted a 16-10 margin in draw controls as senior midfielder Darragh Evarts (Golden Bridge, N.Y./John Jay) hauled in six draws.

Thorne picked up the win in goal with four stops in the final 25:34 of the game while Curtin collected 10 saves, including six in the second half.

St. Mary's opened up the game with a 4-1 run to stake a three-goal lead at 15:07 behind two goals and an assist from Poffenberger. The Maroons got two quick goals in a 14-second span to pull within one at 14:22. Four different Seahawks then found the back of the net in St. Mary's 4-0 run for an 8-3 advantage at 1:35. Junior attacker Claire Feeney (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) made it a four-goal game at halftime by scoring an unassisted goal with eight ticks on the clock.

Poffenberger led all scorers at intermission with three goals and an assist while Evarts paced Roanoke with two goals and an assist in the first 30 minutes.

St. Mary's will be back in action on Thursday, April 2nd when the Seahawks welcome Marymount (Va.) University to Seahawk Stadium for a Capital Athletic Conference game at 4:00 p.m.

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