Tryniski's Record Day Pushes ECU Past Stetson | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of ECU Sports.



    DELAND, FLA.     A record performance from Megan Tryniski helped the East Carolina lacrosse team race to an 18-8 victory over Stetson on Monday afternoon.

    East Carolina improves to 5-2 on the season, tying the 2019 and 2020 squads for the program record in single-season victories. Stetson drops to 2-3 on the year.

    It was Stetson that struck first, with Maria Snee scoring for the Hatters just 44 seconds into the game. From there though, it was all Pirates. Tryniski, Leah Bestany and Nicole LeGar all scored individual efforts in the opening quarter to make it 3-1 Pirates after 15 minutes.

    The second quarter was where East Carolina really began to dominate. Sophia LoCicero got back-to-back goals in the first three minutes, the first set up by Frances Kimel and the second by Tryniski. Erin Gulden scored off a pass from Sophie Patton and then Bestany added her second goal of the day to make it 7-1 less than four minutes into the second.

    The Pirate run continued as Gulden scored a man-up goal with Tryniski getting another helper followed by Bestany turning provider, setting up Kimel to score. Tryniski stretched ECU's lead to 10 with back-to-back goals, the second set up by Elizabeth Wilson. Stetson finally stopped the 10-0 Pirate run when Saige Roe scored from the eight-meter arc, but ECU took an 11-2 lead into the halftime break.

    The opening to the third quarter made sure the game would not be in doubt over the final 30 minutes. LeGar scored just 18 seconds after the teams retook the field. Caroline Meininger added a goal from a free-position shot and LoCicero completed her hat trick off a pass from Tryniski.

    Stetson momentarily stemmed the Pirate tide with a goal, but Carli Johnston scored for ECU and then Tryniski got her fourth assist of the day on a goal by Wilson, tying the ECU record for helpers. After a Hatters goal, Tryniski fed Ellie Bromley for a goal, not only breaking the ECU record with five assists, but also tying her own school record with eight points on the day. The final Pirate goal of the day came when Legar completed her hat trick.

    The Hatters grabbed the final four goals of the game for a final margin of 18-8.

    ECU finished with a 22-15 edge in shots on goal while Stetson had a slight 14-13 edge in draw controls. Stetson led the Pirates in ground balls (8-4), but ECU turned it over nine times compared to 10 for the Hatters.

    Tryniski finished with eight points on three goals and five assists. LeGar and LoCicero each had three goals while Bestany had three points on two goals and an assist. Kimel and Wilson had a goal and an assist apiece while Gulden scored two goals. Flynn Reed led ECU with five draw controls while Brynn Knight had two ground balls. Knight, Meininger, Alexandra Giacolone and Savvy Smith each had a caused turnover. In the goal, Knight played the first 30 minutes, making five saves. Sophie Bandorick played the next 19:34, making two stops while Smith played the final 10:26.

    The Pirates will be back home on Saturday to take on Niagara in Johnson Stadium. That game will get started at 5 p.m.