Thursday, July 24, 2025



Women’s lacrosse begins season with energy and wins

This year’s women’s lacrosse team shapes up to be one of the best in recent history. The women have rocketed out of the starting gate with five straight victories, the best start in the team’s history. The impressive stretch included a quality win over NESCAC foe Bates.

The first game of the year took place on March 8, under the sunny skies of West Palm Beach, FL. In beating SUNY-Cortland 11-9, attacker Becca Vogel ’05 scored a hat trick during a ten-minute span of the first half. She scored two more in the second half and assisted on Martina McPherson’s ’04 goal with 3:35 left in the game. Vanessa Jones ’05 scored twice and had an assist. Kate Jones ’06 made 10 saves in goal.

Two days later, the Cards faced Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In a 13-6 laugher, Jones stopped seven shots while at the offensive end, Vogel had three more goals and three assists. Becky Meredith ’06 added two goals. The Red Birds fired off 36 shots, while allowing only 13. The strong defensive performance was lead by Emily Pfeiffer ’05, Madeleine Helmer ’06, Sarah Rosenfeld ’06, and Katharine Needham ’05.

Their toughest contest to date came against Ithaca College. The Florida air appeared to be helping Ithaca in the first half as they held a 4-1. The only Cardinal goal came from Bernadette Doykos ’04. After Vogel scored 1:26 into the second half, Ithaca reeled off three unanswered goals, giving them a 7-2 cushion with 15:30 left to play. The score remained the same until McPherson scored with 8:42 left. Meredith, after assisting on McPherson’s goal, scored her own 21 seconds later. The deficit held at three until the final three minutes, when the Cards took over. First Vogel scored with 2:36 remaining. Before the final whistle, Meredith and Doykos each scored to send the contest into overtime. Vanessa Jones ’05 netted the winning shot on a free position penalty with 5:44 to go and scored a second goal fifty seconds later to seal the 9-7 victory. Kate Jones and co-captain Meriel Darzen ’04 each made four saves.

“The kids have worked hard in the off season. We’re really pleased with our seniors and what they’ve done so far,” said Coach Holly Wheeler. “They’re leadership and ability on the field whether in practices or in games has been an asset.”

Returning north did little to slow down the Cardinal tide against Bates. Played on the pitch at Springfield College, the Cards and Bobcats were deadlocked at three after the first half. The second half was another story. Vogel and Meredith, who had scored in the first thirty minutes, each scored two more in the final frame. Laura Siegle ’06 scored the team’s third hat trick, entirely within the second half. Eight goals were scored in total in the second half as the Cards prevailed 11-5.

Against Mount Holyoke in their home opener, the Cardinals made the second half of the Bates game seem like child’s play. In the first half, Doykos scored a hat trick, Siegle netted two, Vogel two, Meredith two. The halftime scoreboard read Cardinals 14, Mount Holyoke 2. The rout continued in the second half as Amanda Belichick ’07 scored her first two career goals; she also assisted on Meredith’s second goal in the first half. In total, the Red and Black scored six second-half goals en route to a 20-5 demolition. Another solid defensive performance limited Mount Holyoke to eleven shots.

“Mount Holyoke is not one of our more competitive games,” Wheeler said. “We’ve performed well against them in the past, so I wasn’t surprised.”

Wheeler also cited a very balanced, well-rounded roster as one of the main reasons for their early success.

The nationally ranked Cardinals face their first major test when they play at top-ranked Middlebury on Tuesday.

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