NEWARK, Del. - - In the season opener for the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team, ninth ranked Dowling College came away with a 19-6 victory. Dowling's Jackie Andersen recorded five goals for the Golden Lions on a brisk Saturday afternoon in women's lacrosse action at the WU Athletics Complex.
The Golden Lions (1-0), ranked ninth in the latest IWLCA poll, were first on the score sheet and recorded five unanswered goals before junior Maddie Hewitt put the Wildcats (0-1) on the board. After another run of four goals for the Golden Lions, Wilmington's Rebekah McCurry scored her first for the season on an unassisted goal with 5:27 minutes left in the first half. The Wildcats entered the break trailing the Golden Lions, 11-2.
Dowling's senior Samantha Stavish scored the first goal of the second half for her third goal of the game, just under three minutes into the half. Stavish's goal started a run of seven straight goals for the Golden Lions to start the second half, with two coming from sophomore Emma Ferriera and another pair from junior Jackie Andersen. Wildcat junior Megan Keffer converted a free position opportunity with 10:47 to play in regulation for the third goal of the contest for the Wildcats and breaking up the Dowling scoring streak.
Trailing 18-2, Wilmington scored three of game's last four goals, with two coming from Keffer. The Wildcats turned up the offensive pressure in the last few minutes of the game, scoring a quick succession of three goals to take the Wildcats total to six. The final three goals came from the only goal scorers for Wilmington, as it recorded a pair from Keffer, McCurry, and Hewitt.
McCurry led the way on the stat sheet, grabbing six draw controls while Hewitt had four ground balls. The Golden Lions outshot the Wildcats 31-15, and held 17-10 advantage in draw controls. However, senior keeper Corinne Dries recorded eight saves for the game, while Tina Fey saved a total of five in earning the win.
Dowling was paced by Anderson's five goals and three assists, while Stavish added four goals and an assist. Ferreira and Kelly DiFede each tallied a hat trick, and Jerilynn Goodfellow and Kim Geiger rounded Golden Lions scoring, each netting a pair of goals. Tina Fey recorded four saves and picked up the win in goal, before giving way to Lauren Young, who recorded one save. The Wildcats senior netminder Corinne Dries stopped eight shots in goal in the loss.
Wilmington looks to return to action on Tuesday afternoon, as they are scheduled to travel to Nyack College to open the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference season. Face-off is slated for 3:00 pm, but with Winter Storm Titan bearing down on the East Coast, be sure to keep an eye on wilmu.edu/athletics for updates.
Press release written by Erin Harvey and Jordanne Hoesli-Atkins
