FRANKLIN, Mass. – The Southern Vermont College women's lacrosse team registered its first-ever season-opening victory Sunday afternoon as the visiting Mountaineers scored early and often to defeat Dean College 22-1 in their first game of the 2017 campaign.
SVC got on the board just 32 seconds into the match before opening its lead up to 5-0 by the fourth minute of play. Southern Vermont got the clock running with a 10-0 upper hand at the 14:46 mark of the first half before going into the break on top 14-0, and the visitors were able to then cruise to the big win.
The Mountaineers (1-0) aren't back in action until Saturday, March 11 when they take a 1:30 p.m. first draw at SUNY Purchase.
Southern Vermont broke its single-game scoring record of 20 in the win (4/23/16 vs. Elms) with seven players getting in on the offensive support.
Senior captains Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) and Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) each had a game-high five goals for SVC with Orrell adding an assist, seven draw controls and three ground balls. Fellow senior captain Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) provided four goals, three assists and a ground ball—those three helpers being the most that a Mountaineers has ever recorded in a single match.
Southern Vermont sophomores Sofia Sorriento (Troy, N.Y.) and Stephany Ferreira (Shelton, Conn.) notched three goals and two ground balls, apiece, with Sorriento tallying seven draw controls in her first collegiate game. Juniors Paige Vitale (Port Jervis, N.Y.) and Natalie Rose Canterbury (New Hartford, Conn.) each pitched in with a goal while Vitale scooped up five ground balls and a draw control.
SVC junior keeper Kristiana Goldup (Schuylerville, N.Y.) picked up her first collegiate victory in net (1-0), stopping four Bulldog shots in the process. Between her and the solid Mountaineer defense—comprised of junior Meagan McSweeney (East Falmouth, Mass.), sophomores Madi Carr (Petersham, Mass.), Sydnee Julian (Mexico, N.Y.), Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, N.Y.) and Vanessa Kendall (Coventry, Conn.), and freshman Jessica Foley (Wrentham, Mass.)—Southern Vermont broke its team record of the fewest goals allowed in a game by five (4/16/16 vs. Wheelock).
The Mountaineers collected an 18-6 upper hand in draw controls while taking a slight 18-14 advantage in ground balls.
Orrell wasted no time in getting the offense going as she carried the ball from the midfield deep into Dean territory before ripping it into the back of the cage for the quick lead. Lesure followed with her first score just 28 seconds later, and she then fed Orrell for SVC to go on top 3-0 at the 28:16 mark. Orrell would find Ferreira open at the left side of the net for a 5-0 difference, and Nesshoever put home back-to-back tallies in 1:34 of clock time.
Orrell registered consecutive tallies of her own to grab the hat-trick—one of those being assisted by Lesure once again—before Nesshoever sent in her third and fourth goals of the day for an 11-0 upper hand with 11:13 to go in the half.
After Sorriento scored her second of the afternoon, Ferreira closed out the period with two-straight scores for the 14-point separation. Goldup was hardly tested throughout the stanza but was able to turn away the two shots she faced—one of those being a free-position attempt.
Lesure opened the scoring in the final 30 minutes with her second of the day, and Nesshoever slotted her fifth on a free-position shot for the comfortable cushion. Lesure found Vitale in front for a goal before adding two more of her own, and Orrell then helped SVC tie its single-game record with her fifth after Dean got on the board. Sorriento got her hat-trick with 7:29 to go for the team to break its top goals mark, and Canterbury finished it off with a final tally.
– #LetsGoSVC –