Women's Lacrosse Opens 2016 Season With Win Over Wells

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's lacrosse squad opened their 2016 campaign by edging visiting Wells College, 14-12, in a non-conference matchup at Leary Field Wednesday afternoon. With the win, Elms improves to 1-0 on the season, while Wells drops to 0-1 overall.

The Blazers came out of the gate hot as sophomore Victoria-Lynn Smith (Somers, Conn.) lit up the scoreboard just over thirty seconds into the contest. Just over a minute later, Elms pushed the lead to 2-0 as senior Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) converted off a feed from freshman Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.). The Express made it a 2-1 game on a strike from senior Amber Jordan (Auburn, N.Y.) in the third minute of play. Smith and Jordan exchanged goals, followed by Elms goals from senior Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Pirog to push the Blazers advantage to 5-2.

Wells cut the deficit to two goals, 5-3, on a tally from freshman Renee Bartosz (Blasdell, N.Y.) with 16:13 remaining in the first half. The Blazers netted a pair of goals in a forty second span, including a draw control win and fastbreak goal from Vurno, her first collegiate goal, to hand Elms a 7-3 lead. The teams traded two goals each to head into the half with the Blazers up 9-5.

The Blazers carried their offensive spark into the second half, kicking off the frame with three straight goals on strikes from Vurno, sophomore Haley Roberts (Westfield, Mass.) and Smith pad the Elms lead to 12-5 with 21:15 to play. Wells College battled back into the contest over the next 15 minutes, using goals form senior Lindsay Achzet (Johnstown, N.Y.) to bookend a 6-1 run, featuring four free position goals, to trim the deficit to 13-10 with 8:03 to play.

Wells freshman Mackenzie Maloney (Huntington Station, N.Y.) netted her second of the contest to make it 13-11. The Blazers ended their 17-minute scoring drought as Vurno registered her first career hat trick with a goal at the 4:21 mark. Leading 14-12 with four minutes to play, the Blazers defense held the Express off the scoreboard down the stretch to secure the 14-12 victory.

The Blazers were led by a game-high three-goal efforts from Vurno and Smith, while Vurno tacked on a pair of assists for a five-point day. Cava notched a game-high six points with a game-high four assists and two goals. Roberts had two goals and two assists, while Pirog and sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) added two goals each in the win.

"I'm happy that we won," said Elms Head Coach Maureen Ruane. "We definitely have some things we need to work, but I think the team played really well as a unit and the fact that we had 14 goals with nine assists attests to the chemistry they've developed. We need to work on our transitions and our speed. I don't know if the cold weather was the reason we were a little slow and dropping passes, I'm hoping that's the case, and we are going to do better next time. Meeghan [O'Connor] played amazing today, she had over a 50 percent save percentage, and goals that were scored were right on top of her when they shouldn't have been, so our defense needs to pick up their game to protect her. We are real excited to head out on our spring break trip, Wells played one of the teams were are going to face, so we were able to get a little preview before we head south."

Jordan paced the Express with a game-high three goals. Maloney, Achzet, and senior Lexie Roberson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) tallied two goals each, while senior Andrea Gould (Fulton, N.Y.) and Bartosz logged a goal and an assist.

The Express edged the Blazers in the shot column, 29-25, during the contest. Elms junior Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) stopped 11 shots in the win, while Wells sophomore Quinn Doubet (Virgil, N.Y.) made five saves for the Express.

The Blazers will be back in action when they head south to Hilton Head Island during Spring Break. Elms will take on St. Mary's (Ind.) Tuesday, March 8^th at 1:00 p.m. Wells will open their home slate against Houghton on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

ELMS LACROSSE