For the College's women's lacrosse team, the start of the season could not have gone much worse. The team's 1-2 start, which included its first back-to-back losses since 1985, was certainly a surprise for a team ranked second in the nation.
However, the team quickly came back to form and has reeled off seven straight wins since its last loss, including three important wins last week.
The fifth-ranked Lions began their impressive week by stomping the rival Profs of Rowan University by a score of 14-3.
The Lions were able to unleash an astounding 34 shots while the Profs were only able to get off 12.
Junior midfielder Bridget Bigley was the leading scorer on the night for the Lions, tallying four goals, and fellow junior midfielder Lauren Dougher had three goals and an assist. Senior midfielder Lauren Gossner, freshman midfielder Toni-Anne Cavallo and freshman attacker Kate Neese chipped in with two goals each. Freshman midfielder Karen Doane added the other goal for the Lions in the winning effort.
In a week which included three big wins for the Lions, junior goalkeeper Megan Marquardt felt the Rowan win was the biggest.
"Not only did we play really well, but it was a regional game, so it will hopefully help us to get a higher ranking for regionals," Marquardt said.
The Lions were able to beat out their toughest opponent on Sunday with a 12-8 home victory over 13th-ranked Washington and Lee University.
The College jumped out to a 7-1 lead and had a 9-2 halftime cushion, but Washington and Lee got back into the game in the second half. The Generals narrowed the deficit to four (10-6), but the Lions struck back with two more goals to take a more comfortable 12-6 lead with seven minutes remaining. The Generals added two goals in the final minutes to complete the scoring.
Dougher and Bigley once again led the Lions' scorers by tallying four goals each. Gossner added three goals and an assist and Neese added one goal.
In another highly productive offensive game for the Lions, they defeated Frostburg State University 19-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Bigley amassed an impressive 10 points with six goals and four assists. Dougher and Doane each had five goals, with Dougher also dishing out three assists. Senior defender Heather Rainey, Gossner and Cavallo each contributed a goal.
To wrap up an excellent week for the team, two Lions gained Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) honors for the week ending April 10. Marquardt was selected as the Goalie of the Week for the third week in a row and Doane was selected as the Player of the Week.
Marquardt said that it was an honor to be selected, but that she attributes much of her success to the team effort.
"It's a great honor and I'm just glad that the team is doing well," Marquardt said. "As long as (we) keep going and keep playing the way we are, we'll all be happy."
That team effort is something that head coach Sharon Pfluger has been trying to stress all year to her team and it is certainly showing at this point in the season.
"I see us getting better and better every game," Pfluger said. "Overall, we're playing very well as a team right now. We're starting five freshman and they're getting better every game. In the beginning of the year everyone was trying really hard and exerting a lot of energy, but now we're finally starting to play as a team."
Cavallo feels the team is at an excellent place right now and is ready to make its final regular season push into the playoffs.
"We are definitely more confident right now than we were in the beginning of the season," Cavallo said. "We are staying focused on continuing to improve every game."
On Thursday, the Lions will travel to Madison to take on Drew University and this weekend they will host Cabrini College and St. Mary's College.
