Women's LAX goes 1-1

Plymouth State's women's lacrosse team went 1-1 in last week's games, as they lost to Springfield 15-9 last Thursday, but came back to beat Rhode Island College 13-5 on Saturday. After last week's split, Plymouth State is 3-2 overall but the win over RIC brought the Panthers' record to 1-0 in conference play. 

When I asked Head Coach Kristin Blanchette how she felt about the two games last week, she replied by saying that the win over RIC "felt great. It was a big confidence booster with our first conference win." Beating your first opponent in conference play is critical to an overall season of success, and the Panthers are clearly headed in the right direction. The Panthers had to deal with the bad to go along with the good, as Coach Blanchette said she "learned a lot about my team- they have a ton of character and heart and they never gave up" in the loss over Springfield. When a team is losing by a couple of points/goals/etc., one really gets to learn about a team's true colors, and it is clear that the Panthers were ready for their next game after the loss. 

As far as this week's games go, the Lady Panthers played Worcester State this past Wednesday (this is a make-up game since it got canceled due to field conditions back in March), and face UMass Dartmouth tonight. The Dartmouth game is another crucial one for the Panthers, as it is their 2nd conference game of the year.  Plymouth looks good compared to the other teams within the Little East Conference this year, as they are the only team with a record about .500, and as previously stated they are 1-0 thus far in conference play.

I asked Coach Blanchette who has stood out so far through the first five games this year. Blanchette has been ecstatic from the play of freshman Emily Buckle (Danbury, Conn.) and Lorin Field (Hollis, N.H.). Buckle is second on the team with 17 points (13 goals, 4 assists) while Field played an unreal game against RIC, allowing only 2 goals on 15 shots in the final 58 minutes of play. On Field and Buckle Coach Blanchette said "they have surprised me with how well they have been handling the pressure".  Two upperclassmen that can't go unnoticed as well include Caitlin Swanson (Holderness, N.H.) and Jenn Foley (Tewksbury, Mass.).  Foley is third on the team with 11 points and is shooting almost 60% on the year. Swanson has been awesome in her sophomore year, as she has a team-leading 18 points. Coach Blanchette calls Swanson "fantastic, determined and motivated to succeed."  This team will be one that will become better as the year goes on and as Coach Blanchette said "The sky is the limit for this team" which I agree with.