Women’s lacrosse topples St. Mary’s
Junior Cassie Smith was named Centennial Conference Defender of the Week
Photo credit: David Sinclair
By Claire Healey, Sports Editor
The Gettysburg College women’s lacrosse team is off to a fast start, as they are 3-0 to begin their season. Their most recent victory was a 16-1 romp over No. 19 St. Mary’s College.
Gettysburg was off to a quick lead with control of the first draw and a goal only 42 seconds in by junior Maggie Welsh. The Bullets would win the first six draws to go up 6-0 shortly into the game.
Welsh would score three goals for Gettysburg against St. Mary’s. “I thought our team really came together this week. It’s always nice to get a win over a ranked team, and everyone had a great game today,” said Welsh.
Senior Shannon Keeler had four saves in the first half and did not allow any goals during her 30 minutes in goal. Gettysburg went into halftime with a 10-0 lead and seemed well on their way to an impressive victory.
Keeping up momentum from the first half, sophomore Steph Colson scored the first goal for Gettysburg in the second half. Colson scored two goals and had three draw controls to finish out the game.
Gettysburg’s defense was also alive for the Bullets as they kept the Seahawk’s to just two shots on goal for the second half. St. Mary’s scored on their first shot of the second half bringing the score to 11-1 with 19:34 to play.
St. Mary’s was only allowed one other shot on goal with 1:51 to play, but first-year Casey Cole was able to block the shot during her first time in goal and kept St. Mary’s to just the one goal.
Junior Cassie Smith led Gettysburg’s defense with three forced turnovers, three draw controls and two ground balls. She was named Centennial Conference Defender of the Week for her efforts on defense for the Bullets.
“I’m really happy with the way I played today. Our whole team just really worked together for this game and our defense came together to play as a unit,” said Smith. Sophomore Katrina Niedziela also had two ground balls for Gettysburg.
Senior Caroline Jaeger also had three goals for the Bullets, while senior Emma Christie, junior Katie Landry, and sophomore Lauren Cole each contributed two goals a piece. Sophomore Emily Troy, first-years Courtney Patterson and Liza Barr also each had a goal for Gettysburg.
The Bullets also dominated draw controls. Colson and Christie each came away with three draw controls, which contributed to the team’s 15-3 success on draw control.
Gettysburg also topped St. Mary’s in shots on goal, coming away with twenty-six to their six. The Bullets were also able to hit the back of the net on 7 of 11 free-position attempts.
“The key to our success today was definitely how well we worked as a team and how everyone seemed to be flowing and communicating well. We also had a lot of success on draw control, which helped us keep up momentum” said Welsh.
With this win over a top-20 ranked team, the Bullets held their No. 4 position in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association poll of the NCAA Division III teams. The Bullets trail Middlebury College, SUNY Cortland, and Trinity College and have upcoming games against other top-10 opponents.
The Bullets will look to continue their undefeated streak this weekend at home against No. 7 Washington and Lee University. Gettysburg will not face a conference opponent until March 25th against Ursinus College.
