It was the first ever women’s lacrosse match-up between Wesleyan and SUNY Farmingdale on March 17, and it was certainly one to remember for the Cardinals. Wesleyan scored the most goals and allowed the fewest they have so far in this young campaign, winning by a score of 19-2 while out-shooting Farmingdale 47-10.
The Cardinals showed excellent attacking balance as eleven players scored, led by four goals and two assists from Kaylin Berger ’13, and two goals and three assists from Allie Lynch ’11. Six players had multiple goals as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game thanks to the work of Kayla Ellman ’13, who was assisted by Catherine Taibi ’13. Wesleyan took an 8-1 advantage into the break, and Taibi put home two more within the first two minutes of the second half with both goals courtesy of Lynch assists.
The goalkeeper duties were split between Maggie Drowica ’12 in the first half, and Lydia Kring ’13 in the second half. Drowica stopped five of six shots while Kring, after scoring a goal in the first half playing in the field, allowed just one goal in her collegiate goalkeeping debut.
The Cardinals’ offensive performance is reminiscent of a 2008 game, when Wes posted 19 goals on Ohio Wesleyan. However, that game was more of a shootout, with Ohio Wesleyan accounting for twelve goals, making the two-goal score line of SUNY Farmingdale particularly sensational on the defensive side.
The Cardinals took the momentum from their landslide victory up to Middlebury, Vt. on March 19 with hopes of upsetting the number 13 nationally ranked Panthers. Berger again was a standout with a second consecutive four-goal outing. Wesleyan also had the advantage in ground ball wins and committed 15 fouls compared to Middlebury, which committed 35, but could not capitalize consistently on the Panthers’ errors.
In an 11-minute span midway through the first half, the Panthers notched five straight goals to turn a 1-1 tie to a 6-1 lead. Wesleyan was never able to claw its way back to even the score, and Middlebury extended an 11-5 edge to the final 15-5 in the final stages of the second half. Drowica had 11 saves in goal against a strong Middlebury attack.
The Cardinals play a pair of home contests this week against Roger Williams on Thursday, March 24 before facing a fellow NESCAC contender, Bates College, on Saturday, March 26.