Dartmouth’s women’s lacrosse team opened its 2016 campaign with a statement 18-2 victory, dominating the University of Massachusetts Lowell at home at Fahey-Scully Field in Hanover this past Saturday.
“It feels great to be 1-0. You want to start the year off with a win, and I thought we did some really great things today all over the field,” head coach Amy Patton said. “We got a lot of players in which was good to see, and a lot of young players really stepped up today.”
Patton said that overall she was really pleased with how the team came out to play hard the whole game.
The game started out slow, as Dartmouth and UMass Lowell were locked in a 1-1 tie for the first eight minutes of play. As play progressed, Dartmouth took control, taking a commanding 12-2 lead by halftime and then adding on six more while keeping UMass Lowell at bay during the second half.
Co-captain Jaclyn Leto ’16 opened her final season with a bang by scoring five goals, including her 100th career goal in a Dartmouth uniform. Leto, who played center for much of the game and took the draws, also contributed four draw controls and two ground balls.
“I think the most fun part about it was not just us — the upperclassmen — scoring, but we had a lot of young girls out there that were able to participate and get some points which was awesome,” Leto said. “It was so fun to have everyone connected.”
Leto said she was unaware of the fact that she was on the cusp of reaching 100 collegiate goals but was really excited once she heard it announced over the loudspeaker. Leto is the 17th player in the program’s history to accomplish this feat.
“I had no idea — it was really exciting and I’m really excited for the season,” she said. “It’s just a really positive way to start.”
Taryn Deck ’17 and Courtney Weisse ’17 also played major roles in the Big Green offense, tallying a hat trick each. Deck assisted Weisse twice and contributed a ground ball and two draw controls, while Weisse provided an assist to Ingrid Hermanson ’16.
Patton was pleased with how Deck and Weisse contributed to the offense.
“They’re both great leaders, they run our attack and they’re both very different players in what their skill set[s] [are],” Patton said. “Thinking back to last year, in the gains those two made towards the end of the year, they picked up right where they left off.”
In their first collegiate game, many freshmen stepped up to perform well. Charlotte Wahle ’19, making her first career appearance in goal for the Big Green, played in the cage for the full 60 minutes of play and tallied five saves.
Patton seemed impressed with her poise, especially given her lack of experience on this stage.
“I thought Char saw the ball really well — she was seeing it coming out of their sticks and had some really nice saves,” Patton said. “She’s real calm out there, and it’s a real calming presence for our defense.”
Elizabeth Mastrio ’19, another freshman starring in her first appearance in Dartmouth uniform, tallied a goal and three assists. Many of the draws were targeted at Mastrio, who contributed two to the Big Green’s 14 total draw controls. Kathryn Giroux ’19 and Campbell Brewer ’19 also had strong showings in their first collegiate games. Giroux tallied one goal and one assist, and Brewer recorded one goal late in the second half.
“We have some very good freshmen, and they’re coming along and pushing our upperclassmen which is really nice,” Patton said. “That’s what you want to do as a coach — you want to have a freshmen class that can really push the upperclassmen. I’m very impressed with the whole class.”
Sophie Davidson ’18, Danielle Lisovicz ’16 and Lauren Maiorano ’17 also tallied goals in the high-scoring game. Lauren Maiorano’s sister Kristen Maiorano ’19 tallied an assist in her first game for Dartmouth.
The Big Green defense also controlled much of the pace, limiting UMass Lowell to 12 shots and forcing 20 turnovers, while recording 34 shots itself.
Mastrio and Katie O’Neill ’18 both missed playing time due to yellow card violations for checking UMass Lowell players to the head.
Dartmouth has a busy week ahead, hosting the University of New Hampshire at Fahey-Scully on Tuesday, Feb. 23, before traveling to Florida to take on the University of Florida on Saturday, Feb. 27.
“I think we did a really great job at playing our game,” Deck said. “Hopefully we will continue to play our game against better and tougher and faster teams this week.”
