Women’s lacrosse kicked off the 2019 season with a tough loss to no. 10 Mercy College on Feb. 27. The Chargers made a strong second half push but came up short losing 12-8. Leading the way for the Chargers was junior Kendra Nolan, who had a hat trick to keep New Haven in the game. Following Nolan was senior Mackenzie Reh, who contributed two goals and three assists. Senior Samantha Galler, junior Caroline Maher, and sophomore Grace Loeffler, all put a shot in the back of the net to round out the scoring for New Haven.

The first half was not so kind to the Chargers as they were outshot 28-10 in the first 30 minutes. They also had trouble on the defensive end as they gave up three unanswered goals twice in the first half. They also had trouble keeping possession of the ball as they committed nine turnovers to go against Mercy’s three. Junior goalkeeper Gianna Guerra kept the Chargers in the game as she faced 19 shots and saved 11 of them. The Chargers were down 8-3 going into the second half.

New Haven came out of the break and got on the board first, as Maher scored her first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 8-4. The Chargers would eventually cut into Mercy’s lead and make it a three-goal deficit, but that was as close as it was going to get. Galler scored on an assist from Loeffler to make it 9-6, Nolan scored to bring it to 10-7, and Reh would help to bring the score to 11-8.

The Chargers could not get any closer as Mercy scored their 12th goal with 8:40 left to seal the win for the Mavericks. The Chargers finished the second half shooting 50 percent as they scored five goals on 10 shots. The Chargers also improved on the defensive end as they were 11-11 on clears and caused seven turnovers.

Guerra finished the second half with a total of seven saves to bring her to 18 saves on the day. The Chargers and Mavericks finished tied in draw controls with 11 a piece, without either team giving an inch. After breaking the single-season draw control record last season, junior Raven Linton finished the game with a team-high seven draw controls.

The Chargers will take the field again on Tuesday, Mar. 5 when they take on Malloy. First draw is set for 7 p.m. The Chargers will return to Kathy Zolad Stadium on Mar. 12 when they take on crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State.