STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (1-0) rallied from a 6-3 deficit to defeat Husson University (0-1), 9-7, in the 2020 women's lacrosse season-opener at the SJC Athletics Complex on Friday evening.
The season-opening victory is also the first collegiate win for SJC Head Coach David Keenan, who was named as the Monks' skipper in January.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Trailing 6-3 after Eagles freshman Sophia Gomez (Chelsea, Mass.) netted an unassisted goal at the 28:11 mark of the second half, senior Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Mass.) hit pay dirt 17 seconds later to ignite a string of five unanswered goals for the Monks.
Junior midfielder Liz Callahan (Scarborough, Maine) tied the game with a man-up marker with 18:47 left and junior attack Josie Ring (Newfield, Maine) put the hosts on top for good with her second score of the night at the 15:44 mark. Beaulieu closed out the scoring spree with a seeing-eye strike to the top left corner just over a minute later.
Gomez and sophomore midfielder Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine) traded tallies with goals at the 13:29 and 8:39 marks, respectively, to account for the 9-7 final
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's sophomore Madelyn Nelson (Casco, Maine) turned away six shots to pick up her first win of the 2020 campaign. Husson junior Mallory Burchill (Kennebunk, Maine) made 11 stops, including several outstanding saves, in the losing effort.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the advantage in shots (31-18), shots on goal (20-13), ground balls (30-21), and caused turnovers (18-11) while Husson posted a 10-8 edge in draw controls on the evening.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Champlin tallied three goals, two assists, five ground balls, five caused turnovers, and four draw controls
- Beaulieu scored two goals with three assists
- Ring added two tallies with three ground balls
- Callahan contributed a goal with three ground balls, two draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers
- Junior defender Alexandra Belaire (Greene, Maine) picked up six ground balls and caused three turnovers
- Sophomore Molly Barr (Gorham, Maine) chipped in with a goal, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers
- Freshman defender Tara Powers (Tyngsboro, Mass.) recorded four caused turnovers
LEADERS – HUSSON:
- Junior midfielder Maddy Olsen (Phippsburg, Maine) played very well in the setback with three goals and an assist along with seven draw controls and two caused turnovers
- Gomez struck for a pair of goals
- Sophomore midfielder Mary Cushing (Fairfield, Vt.) scored and picked up three ground balls with three draw controls
- Sophomore midfielder Rose Davies (Attleboro, Mass.) added five ground balls and three caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory Saint Joseph's improves to 10-0-1 all-time versus Husson University.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Sunday with a 1:00 PM non-conference game at University of New England.
