STANDISH, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College women's lacrosse team (3-1, 1-0 GNAC) kicked off Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 17-6 victory over Norwich University (0-3, 0-1 GNAC) at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The conference contest was very competitive early in the first half, as a 2-0 SJC lead after 80 seconds of action turned into a 3-2 edge after sophomore Valentina Drown (Acton, Maine) netted her second goal with 19:09 left in the opening period. Following a timeout called by St. Joe's skipper David Keenan, the Monks scored three times in a matter of three minutes with a man-down marker from freshman Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) lifting the hosts to a 6-2 advantage with 13:09 before the break.
Leading 7-3 at intermission, Saint Joseph's hit pay dirt three times in the first nine minutes of the second half as a pair of Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) strikes extended the hosts' cushion to 10-3 with 21:23 on the game clock.
Drown answered 24 seconds later with her third goal of the night, but the Monks proceeded to produce five unanswered tallies during a 10-minute window to put the game out of reach.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (42-15), shots on goal (30-10), ground balls (30-23), and draw controls (18-7) and was 21-for-22 on clear attempts in the victory. Norwich was 18-for-24 on clear bids and committed 25 turnovers – compared to 18 miscues for the Monks – in a losing effort.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC junior netminder Madelyn Nelson (Casco, Maine) allowed five goals and registered four saves in 55:31 between the pipes while senior Amanda Huang (Gray, Maine) gave up one goal in 4:29 of relief duty in net. Norwich senior keeper Sydney Rocheville (Salem, Mass.) played particularly well in the first half with nine saves in the opening salvo and finished the game with 13 stops.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Mourmouras led the Monks with five goals and added two ground balls and a pair of draw controls
- Dexter tallied three goals, five assists, five ground balls, and three caused turnovers
- Freshman Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) contributed three goals and an assist
- Senior Josie Ring (Newfield, Maine) scored two goals with an assist and three draw controls
- Freshman Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) added two goals and a pair of ground balls
- Senior Liz Callahan (Scarborough, Maine) tacked on a goal and picked up six ground balls and three caused turnovers
- Freshman Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) chipped in with seven draw controls
- Freshman Tara Powers (Tyngsboro, Mass.) was solid on defense with five ground balls and two caused turnovers
LEADERS – NORWICH:
- Drown led the Cadets' offensive attack with three goals on three shots
- Sophomore Allison Sturgeon (Monticello, Ind.) added two goals and an assist with three draw controls
- Senior Emily Schromm (North Attleboro, Mass.) chipped in with a goal and four ground balls
- Freshman Jasmin Contreras (Glendale, Calif.) picked up five ground balls and senior Kathryn Preul (Scottsdale, Ariz.) notched three ground balls and three caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 11-6 all-time versus Norwich University and has now defeated the Cadets in 10-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2014 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's resumes play on Saturday with a 1:00 PM non-conference game at Thomas College. Norwich is back in action next Wednesday with a contest at Colby-Sawyer (3:30 PM).
