HICKORY, N.C. (February 22, 2026) – No. 17 Rollins women's lacrosse delivered a dominant second-half performance on Sunday afternoon, erupting in the third quarter to secure an 18-10 road victory over Lenoir-Rhyne.
Fourteen Tars recorded at least one point in the contest, with five players posting multi-goal performances.
Molly Mendes paced the offense with seven points on three goals and four assists, while
Gabby Yerardi led all scorers with four goals thanks to a surge in the third quarter. Defensively,
Ava Capasso and
Katie Hunter each forced two turnovers, and
Anna (Grayson) Crowe controlled the middle with five draw controls. In goal,
Alyssa Lentz earned the win with seven saves, allowing just eight goals in 52 minutes of action.
Lenoir-Rhyne struck first after controlling the opening draw and quickly built a 4-0 advantage, capitalizing on early draw control momentum. A Rollins timeout steadied the Tars, and
Kali Gagnon found
Tess Hovivian for a woman-down goal to spark the response. The Bears answered immediately, but
Katie Bell converted off a feed from
Fiona Rizzo to keep Rollins within reach.
Late in the opening quarter, a yellow card issued to Lenoir-Rhyne opened the door for Rollins.
Sydney Nickel converted on a free-position opportunity, and after retaining possession, Rizzo connected with
Delaney Hudson to trim the deficit to one heading into the second.
Rollins wasted no time evening the score in the second quarter, as Bell struck again less than a minute in off a Mendes assist. The Tars then took control during a stretch of player-up opportunities. Mendes converted to give Rollins its first lead of the afternoon, then added another off a pass from Nickel to extend the margin. After a brief scoring lull, Mendes completed her hat trick to push the advantage, and Hudson converted a free-position chance late in the half to send the Tars into the break leading 9-6.
The third quarter belonged entirely to Rollins.
Nickel won the opening draw of the half, and Yerardi buried a pass from Mendes to ignite a dominant scoring run.
Delanie Abere followed with a woman-up goal, and Yerardi added another off a
Carsyn Christel assist to stretch the lead to six. The Tars continued to capitalize on disciplined defense and player-advantage situations, as Yerardi completed her hat trick on a feed from
Chloe Pierini before adding a fourth unassisted goal moments later.
Jayme Weber joined the scoring column off, yet another Mendes assist, and after Crowe controlled the draw, Nickel added her second goal of the day to push the lead into double digits. Lenoir-Rhyne managed a late tally, but Rollins carried a commanding 17-7 advantage into the final frame.
The Bears opened the fourth with a goal, but
Audrey Grace Mumford answered off the draw with Christel recording her second assist of the day. Both defenses settled in for the remainder of the quarter, with Lenoir-Rhyne adding two late goals that did little to shift the outcome as Rollins closed out the 18-10 victory.
The Tars improve to 3-1 on the season and return to action Tuesday, February 24, traveling to Anderson for a 2 p.m. matchup to continue their road trip.
