By Joey Bachich
Staff Writer
The Lions’ women’s lacrosse team played three games in eight days and looked to keep their zero in the loss column. The stretch was headed by two road games against Lebanon Valley College on March second and the University of Scranton on March sixth. To round off, the Lions finished at home against Farmingdale State College on March ninth.
First was the road game against Lebanon Valley College. The Lions got down quick with a fast goal from Lebanon Valley. Quickly, they battled back with two goals from senior special education major Kira Sides and senior nursing major Madison Wernick, who both got on the board within a minute of each other.
The Lions finished the first quarter up 5-1 and locked down the Dutchman offense. While up 7-1, the Dutchman came back and scored two quick goals in succession near the end of the half. With the game in the balance and the Lions wanting to put the game away before halftime, Sides, senior English and secondary education major Ally Tobler and sophomore nursing major Marissa Lucca scored three goals to end the half and put the game away.
The second half was pure domination, and the Lions won 16-3. Sides, Tobler and Lucca had three goals each, Wernick had two and senior special education/iSTEM major Julia Charest and junior kinesiology and health science major Hailey Wexler pitched a combined second half shutout.
The Lions then traveled to the University of Scranton to face off against the Royals. Sides again had a really impressive first quarter, assisting senior nursing major Morgan Vaccaro and scoring the second goal. Vaccaro then returned the favor and assisted Sides in her third goal of the first quarter. The second quarter saw the same offensive output with Wernick scoring again — her third goal in two games. Lucca then scored three straight and put the Lions up 8-2.
In the second half, the Lions were cold, letting the Royals back in the game, who scored four straight and cut the lead of the game 9-7. With five minutes remaining and up by only two, freshman special education major Gabriella Roosa put the game on ice, and the Lions ended up surviving 11-8.
After a tough game, the Lions came home and played Farmingdale State College and looked to rout the Rams. Tobler came out in the first quarter and scored three goals, putting the game out of reach early for the Rams.
Wernick again scored for her third game in a row. She has used her athleticism in the clearing game and has seen herself become a transitional midfielder. This can be a huge weapon with some very important matchups coming up in the future.
To open the second half, Tobler scored another two goals and the rest of the game for the Lions saw them handle the Rams, winning 8-2.
After four total games, Tobler has 15 goals and six assists, Lucca has 15 goals, Sides has 16 points and Wernick has 4 goals and 11 caused turnovers. They have some really impressive depth as well; fifth-year nursing major Katherine Nailberg has 9 points and goalie Julia Charest has a .500 save percentage and only 6.62 goals against.
Their next game is against Johnson and Wales University on March 16, followed by the biggest game of the year against No. 1 Middlebury College at home on March 21.
