DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Powered by an eight-goal performance from rookie
Maddie Wright, the UMass Dartmouth women's lacrosse team defeated Anna Maria College, 17-7 in the season opener for both teams.
The Corsairs got things going quickly in the opening quarter of action as Wright and classmate and midfielder
Alannah Paiva scored 43 seconds apart for a 2-0 lead at 13:09. The AMCats struck back at the 7:49 mark as sophomore defender Riley Michaud scored, but Wright answered a minute later and the Corsairs tacked on goals from junior middie
Widline Thomas and junior attack
Erin Donovan for the 5-1 lead with 1:49 remaining.
Anna Maria saw senior attack Riley Cote score, but UMD answered once more as junior midfielder
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez scored with four seconds on the clock to take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
The second stanza was a Corsairs barrage of goals, paced by Wright as she scored four, including three straight from 11:14 to the 6:48 mark. Sanchez Alvarez tipped in a tally from Thomas at the 13:08 mark to make it an 8-2 contest and following three straight from Wright, junior attack
Hannah Mitus scored at 3:44 to make it a running clock until halftime.
Out of the intermission, the AMCats saw Michaud score, but Sanchez Alvarez reactivated the running clock for the home team, scoring two straight scores for the 14-3 advantage at 10:20. Anna Maria sophomore defender Carly Drew got the visitors back into it, cutting the deficit to 14-5 and a tally from senior middie Alice Yokabaskas made it an eight-goal game with 47 seconds remaining.
The Corsairs saw Wright tack on her seventh goal of the game in the closing 16 seconds of the third, but the AMCats got the best of the home team to open the fourth as Cote tallied her second of the night to cut the gap to 15-7. Despite that momentum, the visitors were unable to hold off the UMD offense as Wright and Sanchez Alvarez each tallied for the final 17-7 margin as the Corsairs used the running clock to close things out for their season-opening win.
Wright paced all players with eight goals on nine shots (all on goal). She added three ground balls with a caused turnover. Sanchez Alvarez posted five goals on the evening on six shots (all on goal). She added nine ground balls with 10 caused turnovers in the contest. Donovan chipped in a goal and two assists, while Thomas had a goal and a helper, adding four ground balls and four caused turnovers. In goal, senior
Payton Conceicao recorded eight saves in the victory.
For the AMCats, Cote posted two goals and an assist, adding a ground ball, while Michaud had two tallies with two ground balls and a caused turnover. Yokabaskas had a tally with two ground balls and a caused turnover as well. In goal, senior Ashley Sheehan suffered the loss with nine saves in goal.
