The Lion's women's lacrosse team won their home opener on Saturday by defeating SUNY Cortland 19-4. The Lions are ranked third in Division III. Head coach Sharon Pfluger was pleased with the Lions (2-0) performance.
"If I had to say one thing about today, it would be that we played well together," Pfluger said. "We try to play to our own strengths in all areas of the game. Our midfield game has been especially strong."
Pfluger was counting on a difficult game, based on the team's history with Cortland (4-1).
"It's always a great game with Cortland," Pfluger said. "I was expecting a tight game, and I was glad that we were gradually able to pull away in the second half."
Cortland scored the first goal of the game before senior attacker Liz O'Connor and freshman Lauren Dougher scored two straight goals to give the Lions the 2-1 lead.
The Red Dragons then scored to tie the game at two before junior Katie Wagenblast scored a goal at the 7:48 mark. This gave the Lions a lead that they did not relinquish for the rest of the game.
The Lions scored five of the last six goals to take a 10-4 halftime lead.
The College dominated the second half by scoring nine unanswered goals.
O'Connor led the Lions with five goals and two assists. Dougher had four goals and Freshman Bridget Bigley added three goals and two assists.
Even though the College was to be facing a challenging opponent, Pfluger said the Lions don't alter its game for any of their opponents.
"We work on trying to play aggressive and just do our own thing," Pfluger said. "We prepare for every game the same way. It is about adjusting to what they are doing as the game goes on. We see the best from everybody."
Senior goalie Jen Munday had eight saves in 12 attempts and juniors Jill Baldwin, Carin Heller and Wagenblast contributed multi-goal games.
Also scoring goals for the Lions was junior Christie Shore and sophomores Lauren Gossner and Caitlin Pettit.
The Red Dragons were led by Junior Sara Gorman, who had two goals and an assist.
The Lions previously scheduled game on March 20, against Millersville University was postponed due to bad weather.
Upcoming Game
The Lions' next game will be home at 7 p.m. on Thursday against Messiah College.
