NEWARK, Del. - - On a day set aside to honor the careers of the seniors, it was the four upperclassmen that led the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team to its first victory of the season, a 21-4 thrashing of Nyack College on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The three offensive seniors combined to score 13 goals and added seven assists while the fourth senior made nine saves in goal to lead the Wildcats (1-10, 1-4 CACC) in the victory. Nyack (0-6, 0-5 CACC), playing in its first lacrosse season, took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 early in the contest before falling in the team's first ever meeting.
Seniors Liz Case, Kaitlyn and Jaclyn Hall, and Molly Taylor were recognized before the contest for their work in the program over the past two and four years. Case and Taylor have with the Wildcats for the past four years while the Hall twins came over from Harford CC prior to their junior years.
Case and Jaclyn Hall put on a show for the home crowd, each having career days on Saturday. Case recorded a new program mark, scoring five goals and adding six assists for 11 points, breaking the mark set by three individuals, the latest by Kelly Wojciechowski on March 28, 2009.
Hall matched Case with five goals to lead the team, regaining the season lead with 20 goals on the year. Taylor chimed in with three goals and an assist while Jessica Stratton and Brittany Rhodes recorded two goals each. Four other student-athletes tallied one goal, making it nine Wildcats that scored a goal in the victory. Chelsie Maher and Ali Kern added an assist each, making it 11 players to record a point in the game.
After the Warriors scored two of the first three goals to take the 2-1 lead, head coach Jackie Trainer called a timeout to rile up the troops. The brief timeout seemed to work, as the Wildcats came out and responded with 11 straight goals and 13 of the final 14 goals of the first half.
Wilmington continued the offensive production in the second half, tallying seven straight goals to open up a 21-3 lead before Nyack got on the board with 55 seconds remaining to settle of the final outcome.
The Wildcats also saw a couple of firsts for the 2013 season, as reserves Penelope Fantis, Alli Sain and Corinne Dries each recorded their first goal of the season. Sain also added her first assist of the year, making it a two point day for the sophomore. Megan Keffer rounded out the scoring for the Wildcat, adding a goal and two assists, as well as a team high five draw controls on the afternoon.
Kaitlyn Hall made a stop in the first half and came back to make eight saves in the second half to finish with nine. Five of her saves came as the result of five free-position shots for the Warriors. Nyack went 0-for-5 on the day from the right-meter mark.
The Wildcats remain at home for one more contest, hosting Chestnut Hill in their final home game of the 2013 on Tuesday. Wilmington and Chestnut Hill, both members of the CACC South Division, are battling for one of the two playoff spots from the South Division. The opening draw is scheduled for 3 p.m.
