College roundup: RIT eliminates St. Lawrence in Liberty League play-in game
May 9—TROY — Maddy Cook hit a solo home run and Jessica Majot held St. Lawrence University to four hits as the Rochester Institute of Technology prevailed 8-0 Thursday in a play-in game for the Liberty League softball tournament.
The Saints finished the season 19-15.
Cook sparked the scoring for RIT with her lead-off homer in the second inning. She finished with three hits and two runs batted in.
Bailey Kehl supplied an RBI double and Erin Ozminkowski, Kristin Hino and Bella Pioggia each drove in a run with a single. Maria Minemier added an RBI single in the sixth inning that ended the game due to the eight-run mercy rule.
Majot struck out five and walked two for the Tigers (14-21-1), who advanced to play top-ranked Rensselaer.
MEN'S LACROSSE
SAINTS LAND TOP LEAGUE HONORS
St. Lawrence University's Judge Murphy was named Offensive Player of the Year, Daniel Murphy Rookie of the Year and Mike Mahoney Coach of the Year as the Saints placed eight members on the All-Liberty League teams for men's lacrosse.
Murphy, a senior, is the first Saints player to win the league's top offensive player honor since SLU all-time scorer Conor Healy won the award in 2016.
Murphy led the Saints with 81 points (56 goals-25 assists) and led the league with 5.0 points per game. He also finished second in the league with 3.44 goals per game and sixth in assists with 1.56 a game.
Murphy is seventh in St. Lawrence program history with 227 points and third in goals with 146.
Mahoney, from Canton, is third on the Saints with 31 points (24-7). He finished ninth in the league with 2.5 goals per game. Despite missing four games with an injury, he was named league rookie of the week three times.
The Saints' head coach Mike Mahoney led the Saints to a 14-2 regular-season mark and a share of the regular season Liberty League title with a 6-1 record. St. Lawrence started the season 11-0, its best start in program history.
Both Murphy and Mahoney made the league first team, as did Saints midfielder Caleb Torres and defenseman Tripp Clark. Bobby Wells, Paddy Condon and Michael Marinello made the league second team, and Ben Hutchinson and Alex Bechard were honorable mention picks.
SLU, fifth among NCAA Division III teams, faces Plymouth State at noon Saturday in Middletown, Conn., in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
CLARKSON DUO HONORED
Clarkson seniors Matt Reilly and Matt Szwagulinski were selected to the All-Liberty League team as respective first- and second-team picks.
Reilly led the Golden Knights in scoring with 50 points (35-15) to reach the first team for the first time. Szwagulinski was tied for second in the league in caused turnovers per game with 1.88 and led Clarkson with 32 CTs for the year. He was also second on the team in ground balls with 56.
Reilly and Szwagulinski made the Liberty League all-star squad for the third time in their careers.
MESLER PLAYER OF YEAR
SUNYAC Canton's Austin Mesler was selected North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year as well as a conference first-team player.
Mesler led the Kangaroos with 78 points (43 goals-35 assists). He's the third SUNY Canton men's lacrosse player to be named NAC Player of the Year.
Mesler was third in the league in goals per game (3.63), assists per game (2.88) and points per game (6.50).
Teammates Caeden Goodnough and Holden Hewlett were named to the NAC's second team.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
BARNUM FIRST-TEAMER AGAIN
Clarkson senior Madelynn Barnum was named a Liberty League first-team all-star for the third time in four years and three Golden Knights teammates also made the all-league squad.
Barnum established a program record for goals in a season with 66 and her 79 points in her final season is the third-highest in Clarkson history. She also set a program record with 83 draw controls, and her 32 caused turnovers during the years is tied for the third-most among Golden Knights.
Barnum, from Ballston Lake, led the league in goals and points per game and was in the top five in the league in average ground balls, draws and CTs per game.
Making the second team for Clarkson were Julia Lavarnway, of Watertown, and Dexter's Rylee Ganter. Ireland Morgia, from Adams, made the honorable mention team.
Lavarnway led the league in assists per game (2.94) for the second straight season and finished with 47 total. She was second in the league in points per game (4.81) and her 77 points rate fourth on Clarkson's single-season list. Lavarnway, a graduate student, became the sixth Golden Knight to surpass 200 points for her career.
Ganter, a senior, made the league all-star team for a third straight year as she made the second-team squad in back-to-back seasons. Ganter finished eighth in the league in CTs per game (1.38) and placed in the top 10 in ground balls per game (2.13).
Morgia reached the league all-star squad for the first time. Morgia was third on the team in draw controls per game.
SAINTS GAIN ALL-LEAGUE SPOTS
St. Lawrence junior Haley Sundstrom has been named to the All-Liberty League second team.
Sundstrom, who plays defense, appeared in all 17 games for the Saints and finished first in the league in caused turnovers per game.
Sundstrom also led the Saints with 35 total caused turnovers, 36 ground balls and 32 draw-control wins.
Saints midfielder Neve Ley received league honorable mention status.
ROOS WIN TOP HONORS
SUNY Canton senior Samantha Dayter was named the North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year for the fourth straight year as six SUNY Canton players were selected for honors on the All-NAC teams.
Kangaroos head coach Adam Todd was named NAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons.
Dayter, who shared the Player of the Year honors with Maine Maritime's Hazel Stoddard, averaged a league-best 7.77 points per game. Dayter, who plays attack, totaled a team-high 101 points (52-49) and was tied for first in points per game in league games with 8.14. She was also first in assists per league game (4.00) and third in goals per game (4.14) and fifth in draw controls per game (6.29).
Maddy Caron and Aayliah White also reached the NAC first team for SUNY Canton.
Caron, a midfielder, led the Roos with 72 goals, 119 draw controls, 54 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers. She was fourth in the league in draw controls per game (7.29), fifth in goals per game (3.86) and sixth in assists (1.71) and points (5.57).
White, a defender, totaled 38 grond balls, 35 draw controls and 19 CTs. She also added 11 goals and three assists.
SUNY Canton's Caroline Nappi, Lindsey Wunder and Olivia Scott each made the NAC second team.
