Rockville Centre, N.Y.- The women's lacrosse team picked up its first win of the 2026 season this afternoon, leading from open to close with eight different goal scorers in the 19-4 win over American International College. With the win, Molloy improved to 1-1 on the season and the Yellow Jackets fell to 0-2.

How it Happened

• Freshman Jenna Italiano wasted no time putting the Lions on the board, scoring on a man-up opportunity in the opening minute of play.
• Junior Brooke Grossjung and sophomore Ava Benasutti traded goals within one minute of each other to make it 3-0, before Grossjung added her second goal four minutes later.
• Sophomore Emma Ryan converted on a free-position opportunity in the seventh minute, followed by freshman Sam Cossaro's first collegiate goal. Sophomore Cameron Thompson and freshman Peyton Naus connected for the Lions' seventh goal of the game, as Thompson finished off a feed from Naus.
• American International's Kathryn Lettieri put the Yellow Jackets on the board, but Ryan responded with her second goal of the game to send the Lions into the second frame with an 8-1 lead.
• The cardinal and white had five different players find the back of the net in the second quarter as Ryan scored twice, Cossaro added one, and Naus and freshman Sarah Minelli each recorded their first collegiate goals to extend the Lions' lead to 13-1.
• Both teams traded free-position goals in the second half, as Grossjung and Yellow Jackets' Gabrielle Walz scored two minutes apart. Thompson answered three minutes later, but Walz struck again in the fourth minute to cut the deficit to 15-3.
• The Lions closed out the third quarter with Cossaro's third goal of the contest.
• Italiano and Minelli opened the final frame with a goal each, and Naus added her second three minutes later. American International capitalized on a turnover late in the game, as Walz scooped up a ground ball and fed Mackenna Donohue to close out the scoring 19-4.

Top Performances

• All three of the Lions' top scorers had career-best performances with Ryan (4 goals), Cossaro (3 goals, 1 assist), and Grossjung (3 goals, 1 assist) each tallying four points.
• Thompson, Italiano, Minelli, and Naus each had two goals and one assist, while sophomore Ava Benasutti added one goal and two assists.
• Sophomore Ryleigh Zamora dished out two assists and had two draw controls.
• Grossjung led the squad with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• In net, junior Nicole Schaumloffel earned the win with three saves in the first half, and junior Samantha Heuer added another two saves.

Up Next
The Lions are back at RVC Sports Complex on Wednesday (Mar. 4) at 7:00 p.m. to host Georgian Court.