DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth women's lacrosse team overcame an early deficit to post a 14-6 victory over New England College in 2024 home opener on Cressy Field on Thursday. The win moves the Corsairs to 1-1 on the season, while the Pilgrims are now 1-2.
Trailing by a 3-0 margin following the opening period of play, the Corsairs turned on the heat in the second stanza as senior midfielder
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez got the home team on the board less than three minutes in. Rookie midfielder
Maddy Allen pulled it to within one (3-2), burying a feed from Sanchez Alvarez at 11:53. Less than a minute later, rookie attack
Jennifer Lins evened it up with her first collegiate goal.
Those three tallies, combined later in the frame with man-up goals from Sanchez Alvarez and senior midfielder
Widline Thomas, pushed it to a 5-3 advantage for the Corsairs. The squad took a 6-4 lead into halftime thanks to a score from senior attack
Hannah Mitus – who assisted on the two man-up goals – in the final minute.
UMass Dartmouth continued its offensive onslaught in the third quarter, opening up an 11-5 gap thanks to two goals from Allen, which saw Sanchez Alvarez's fourth tally sandwiched between. It was the senior captain who struck once again to open the fourth quarter, followed by another Allen goal with 5:03 to go for a 13-5 advantage.
The Pilgrims pushed across their sixth goal as rookie midfielder Alexis Hornsby got one past Corsairs goalie
Kelsie Couto, but a Thomas tally in the final 32 seconds capped the game's scoring.
The Corsairs owned a 43-20 advantage in shots for the game, going 12-25 on the clear. UMass Dartmouth was 2-for-7 on free position attempts, while the Pilgrims were 2-for-6. The home team also owned a 14-8 edge in draw controls and ground balls (28-25).
Sanchez Alvarez paced all scorers in the game, adding an assist as well. She recorded three ground balls with two caused turnovers, also capturing five draw controls. Allen added four tallies on the evening, recording four ground balls with two caused turnovers with a game-high six draws, while Thomas posted three tallies. Rookie midfielder
Lily Nees notched two assists, adding a game-high eight ground balls with four caused turnovers. In goal, Couto earned the victory with six total saves.
New England College was paced by graduate midfielder Cassie Kelly, who had two goals with three ground balls to go along with two draw controls and a game-high six caused turnovers. In goal, Pilgrims keeper Carleigh Knotts recorded 15 saves, including seven in the first quarter alone.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Saturday, hosting Regis College (MA) at 12pm on Cressy Field.
