Women’s Lacrosse Looks to Rebound After Mediocre Start

The Plymouth State Women’s lacrosse team competed in their seventh game of the season this past Wednesday (3/25), and fell to Castleton State College 13-11. The loss brings the team’s overall record to 4-3.

Prior to the game against the Spartans, PSU played a wide variety of teams in their first six games of the season.

To kick off the 2015 season, the Panthers were able to knock off Gordon College behind eight goals by senior captain Amy MacDonald (Hull, MA). In this game, Molly Gleason (Haverhill, MA) was able to collect seven draw controls, which allowed her to eclipse the all-time record for most draw controls in a career for PSU women’s lacrosse history.

This allowed PSU to start off the season 1-0 for the first time since 2011.

The next game ended up being a challenge for Plymouth, as they fell to Springfield College 8-1. One big contribution to the loss could be pointed at the difference in fouls, as Springfield had less than half (17) of the amount that PSU obtained (36).

Believe it or not, the Panthers were actually able to “host a game” (the game took place down at New Hampton School) in March, for the first time since 2009. Being able to compete on their home turf resulted in a strong game for PSU, as they were able to capture a 20-10 win over Salve Regina. A number of players had strong performances against Salve, including Caroline Vonachen (Framingham, MA, four goals, five draw controls), Shannon Connerty (Nashua, N.H., three goals, two assists), Megan Tingley (Natick, MA three goals) and Gleason (two goals, eight draw controls).

Having three games under their belt heading into Spring Break, the Panthers looked to build some momentum on their season as they headed out to California.

It didn’t go as planned at first, as Chapman University was able to defeat PSU 18-5. One of the big reasons that Chapman was able to win so decisively was due to the fact that temperatures at game time reached the upper 80s, and playing on a turf field just amplified the heat.

Looking to rebound in their next game, the Panthers were able to have a fantastic game against Claremont Mudd-Scripps, which resulted in a 10-7 win for Plymouth. This game was a back-and-forth contest at first as CMS jumped out to an early 2-1 lead, but Tingley and MacDonald were able to score the next three goals to give PSU a 4-2 lead. Claremont was able to tie the game back up at four, but Gleason and MacDonald scored three goals wrapped around halftime that gave PSU a lot of momentum. CMS wouldn’t go away, scoring the next two goals, but MacDonald and Caroline Vonachen scored three goals to put the game away for the Panthers.

Not to be outdone, the Panther defense played extremely well, as Becky Dale (Keene, N.H.), Sophia Guerriero (Essex, MA), Megan Lunetta (Plymouth, MA) and Rachel Fistori (Medford, MA) limited the pressure on senior goalie Casey Curran (Framingham, MA). For the game, Curran was able to accumulate 11 saves on the 18 shots that she faced.

To wrap up the last game of the West Coast swing, PSU traveled to Occidental College on Friday (3/20) afternoon. Like the previous game, the game against the Tigers was a struggle for both teams, as neither was able to sustain a leader for most of the game.

Vonachen scored the first goal of the game to give PSU an early 1-0 lead, but Occidental was able to score seven of the next 11 to go up 7-5. Over the next four minutes, the Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, MA) show got going, as the sophomore was able to score three goals, while Rachel Fistori found the back of the net to give PSU a 9-7 lead with about seven minutes left in the first half. The high-scoring affair continued at the end of the first half, as the Tigers tied the game at nine.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, the defense of Plymouth played much better, not allowing Occidental to score. To help PSU, Wilder added two more goals, while Shannon Connerty found the back of the net herself.

Over the last 15 minutes of the game, Occidental was able to tie the game up at 12, and appeared to win the game in the last few seconds of regulation, but an illegal stick was being used by the goal-scorer.

In the overtime session, Meg Brault (South Windsor, CT) was able to shut down the Tigers, not allowing them to score in the first six-minute session, which resulted in a sudden-death overtime period.

In the overtime period, Becky Dale was able to collect the draw control, and Megan Tingley was able to find the back of the net to give Plymouth a big 13-12 victory.

Upon returning to the East Coast, the Panthers traveled to Castleton State College to take on the Spartans. In previous years, PSU has been able to handle Castleton, but it was a different story in 2015.

Amy MacDonald was able to get the scoring going early in the lead, as she scored to give PSU a 1-0 lead. Castleton went on to take a 4-3 lead, but another MacDonald goal tied the game at four. This goal allowed MacDonald to eclipse 200 career points as a Panther. Unfortunately for MacDonald and the rest of PSU, Castleton scored three goals to go into halftime up 7-4.

In the second half, Wilder and Connerty cut the lead to a goal, and the two teams scored two goals a piece to leave the game at 9-8 in favor of the home team. Castleton wouldn’t allow PSU to tie the game, let alone take the lead, as they scored four of the next five goals to put PSU away. The 13-11 final is the most recent game to put PSU’s record at 4-3.

So where does the team go now? Expectations this season were relatively high this season, especially after qualifying for the NCAA tournament last season. One thing that the Panthers absolutely must limit is the number of fouls that they commit. In the losses that the team has had, they have committed 31 fouls per game, compared to 18 in their wins (albeit, fouls weren’t recorded in the other two Plymouth victories).

As the season starts to get closer and closer to Little East Conference play, this team will look to perform to the ability that they are able to play at. Through the first seven games of the season, the only game at which this team has been able to perform close to their ability was against Claremont Mudd-Scripps. The next two games that PSU plays against are ones that they are “expected to defeat”, but they can’t go into games with that attitude. Getting to the NCAA’s last season just meant that PSU has that much bigger of a target on their backs in 2015.

As the 2015 season continues to move along, watch for this team to slip away from mediocrity, and get into a rhythm through the early part of April. With conference play starting on Saturday (4/4), look for the Panthers to get their first LEC win of the season against UMass Dartmouth.