PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Powered by seven points each from senior
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez and rookie
Lily Nees, the UMass Dartmouth women's lacrosse team posted a 14-5 victory at Rhode Island College in Little East action on Saturday. The victory moves the Corsairs to 9-5 with a 2-3 conference mark, while the Anchorwomen are now 2-11 with a 0-5 LEC record.
The Corsairs got things going quickly in the opening quarter of action, firing in three goals for the early advantage. Sanchez Alvarez started the run, burying a feed from rookie midfielder
Tori Roberts at 14:10. Senior attack
Ruby Sanger then found the back of the net soon after, connecting on a pass from classmate and captain
Widline Thomas for the 2-0 advantage.
Thomas helped make it a 3-0 margin at 7:33, sending a quick pass to Sanchez Alvarez as the midfielder and captain cut inside for the solid goal – her second of the contest. The Anchorwomen responded at 6:36 as rookie attack Sophie DeFlitch scored on the free position, but the Corsairs answered once again before the end of the quarter on the third from Sanchez Alvarez off an assist from senior attack
Hannah Mitus at6:09.
In the second quarter, rookie attack
Jennifer Lins pushed the lead to four (5-1), converting for a free position tally, but RIC's Hannah Marley corralled a feed from junior defender Maggie Schwab to cut the margin to 5-2 at 5:51. Sanchez Alvarez then fired in her fourth of the game, converting a pass from Nees for the 6-2 advantage after two quarters.
Out of the intermission, it was the homestanding Anchorwomen who struck first as Schwab buried a feed from senior attack Emily Marino past UMass keeper
Kelsie Couto for the 6-3 score. The visitors bounced back as Nees scored her first of the contest at 5:02, driving home a pass from Mitus. Soon after, Nees made it a five-goal game once again, scoring on the free position to push it to an 8-3 advantage after three.
It was a wild fourth quarter with a combined eight goals scored as RIC opened with the first tally, another Schwab goal from Marley. Nees struck again, netting the hat trick off a feed from Sanchez Alvarez and the Corsairs followed that up with a Thomas goal at 11:29 to make it a 10-4 contest.
Thomas struck again soon after, this time off a pass from Sanchez Alvarez and Nees's fourth of the contest – assisted by Roberts – saw the Corsairs open up the 12-4 lead with 8:18 remaining. Sanchez Alvarez went on to net her fifth of the contest and following a RIC goal from DeFlitch, Nees buried her fifth to cap the game's scoring.
UMass Dartmouth, which held a 36-14 advantage in shots, including 27-8 on goal, also owned a 31-19 advantage in ground balls and a 16-7 edge in draw controls.
Sanchez Alvarez, who had two assists in addition to five goals, added a game-high eight ground balls with four caused turnovers and a game-best seven draw controls. The senior midfielder and captain now has a career-high and Little East leading 60 goals on the season. Nees, who also had five goals and two assists, added four ground balls with three caused turnovers and three draws, while Thomas had two goals and two assists with four draw controls.
Senior midfielder
Claire Petersen posted six ground balls and three caused turnovers on the day, while Couto earned the victory with three saves on the afternoon.
For the Anchorwomen, DeFlitch had two goals with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Marley added a goal and a helper with a ground ball. In goal, Giana Franco made 13 saves on the day, while leading the team in ground balls with six.
The Corsairs return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Keene State for a 7pm LEC showdown against the Owls.
