Ten Different Goal Scorers Lead Women's Lacrosse to Victory

The game appeared to be over before it even started, as the Plymouth State Women's lacrosse team defeated the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth, 22-3 on Saturday (4/5/14) afternoon. The win puts the team's record at 5-2, and they captured their first win in their first in Little East Conference play.

Only 67 seconds into the contest, sophomore Emily Tilton (Cranston, R.I.) found the back of the net for PSU on a free-position shot to put Plymouth on the board. Despite the Corsairs tying the game up at one, the Panthers were able to rattle off the next ten goals. Of the ten goals, Tilton had three, juniors Shannon Connerty (Nashua, N.H.), Amy MacDonald (Hull, MA) and Molly Gleason (Haverhill, MA) had a combined four goals, and freshman Caroline Vonachen (Framingham, MA) and Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, MA) had the other three goals. UMD added one more goal before the end of the first half, but MacDonald found the back of the net as well for her second of the game. 

Heading into halftime, PSU had a comfortable 12-2 lead. 

The second half was a continuation of the first, as Connerty added two more goals within the first 2:20 of the half. Freshman Jordyn Godfrey (Glenville, N.Y.)  Jenn Johansson (Stratham, N.H.) and Abby Cerone (Stratford, CT) all had second half goals to propel the Panthers to ten second half goals. For Johansson, it was her first in the green and white for Plymouth, while Cerone added her second and third goals of the season.

This was a complete win, and overall excellent team performance for PSU, as the defense held the Corsairs to only 11 shots on goal for the game. Senior Captain Lorin Field (Hollis, N.H.) had three saves on the day, while Vonachen and Gleason had three grounds balls in the game. 

When both the offense and defense are able to flow as well as they did against UMD, this team becomes extremely tough to beat. Aside from this game being the "home opener" for PSU (this game took place on the other side of I-93, at Holderness), the momentum that Plymouth is able to gain by putting a conference game under their belt should give them a lot of confidence. Two of the next three games for the Panthers might be their biggest tests of the season so far, as Bridgewater State University comes up to the White Mountains for a Wednesday (4/9) night game, while the in-state, in-conference rival Keene State Owls make their trip up to PSU on 4/15.

Assuming that the Panthers can keep this momentum going, they will be tough to beat as the season progresses.