This Week in Sports: 2/26-3/3

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Pace University Athletics

This week in sports sees the end of winter and the start of spring athletics.

Sequoia Cumming, Senior Reporter

With the exception of its softball team, each spring Pace athletic team competed this past week. From walk-off wins to a playoff upsets, here’s how each squad fared this week.

Tuesday, February 26

Pace women’s basketball team finished its season with a 73-67 win against the College of Saint Rose after a 24-4 run in the first half. Sophomore Lauren Schetter finished the game with 26 points, earning her third-straight 20-point performance. The Setters were able to make more than half of their shots from the field, creating an effective offensive performance. Women’s basketball closes the season with a 10-18 record, its lowest win total since the 2013-2014 season.

Men’s basketball had a more difficult drive against the Golden Knights, and were defeated 80-68, which marked the end of the Setters’ regular season. Despite the loss, each of the starting five Setters reached double figures, led by Peyton Wejnert’s 19 points. The Setters closed the regular season with a 15-13 record.

Friday, March 1

Baseball opened its season against LIU Post, coming with a 2-1 victory via a walk-off win at Finnerty Field. The first run of the day came on a sacrifice fly from senior Michael Barbato. Michael Salmonese scored on the play, providing a 1-0 lead in the third inning for the Setters. Finally, in the bottom of the 10th inning, sophomore Luke Jacobi drove a fastball to bring home the game-winning homer, Dean Depreta from third base.

Later that evening, fifth-seeded men’s basketball defeated Franklin Pierce 74-61 in the first round of the NE-10 Conference Championship. Wejnert held a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Defensively, Pace forced 15 turnovers, and never led by less than 12 points in the second half.

Saturday, March 2

After winning its home opener the previous weekend, the 12th-ranked men’s lacrosse hit the road and pulled out a victory over No. 6 LIU Post. The Setters started with a 6-0 lead, two of those goals provided by senior Daniel Keenan, who had a team-high of four points by the end of the game. Freshman goalie Louis Ragusa played in net for the game’s entirety, tallying for 12 stops and improving his save percentage to .640 this season.

Sunday, March 3

Women’s lacrosse won 20-2 in their home-opener against Caldwell, ignited by an 11-1 lead in the first half. Three freshman–Kayla Conway, Aleya Corretier, and Isabella Piccola–combined for nine goals, each earning their own hat tricks. Another freshman, Siena Masullo, stayed in net for 39 minutes, allowing only two goals and making three saves.The Setters will now play five straight road games, beginning with a trip to LIU Post Wednesday afternoon.

Men’s basketball lost its footing Sunday as the team lost top-ranked Le Moyne College in the quarterfinals of the NE-10 Conference Championship 86-66. The Setters finish the year with 16 wins, their highest total since 2007. Up by seven points at the break, the Dolphins made a 10-3 run to extend its lead to 52-38 at the 15:10 mark of the second half. Another 20-10 run from Le Moyne led to its largest advantage of the game at 72-48 with 7:30 left. Pace couldn’t close the gap to less than 19 points the rest of the way.