Sarah Devens '96 and co-Captain Lauren Holleran '95 scored five goals each and Holleran added a pair of assists to lead the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team to a 15-5 victory over the University of Massachusetts yesterday afternoon.
Dartmouth, currently ranked fourth in the Brine Poll, raised its record to 6-1.
Devens scored two goals in 41 seconds to put the Big Green up 2-0, just over five minutes into the game. Massachusett's Joanna Dignazio scored two minutes later before Devens recorded her third goal of the half.
Dartmouth then repeated the scoring spree. This time it was Holleran who scored three times in two minutes in response to Dignazio's second goal of the game.
The Big Green tallied a goal a piece from co-Captain Mya Mangawang '95, Wally Cook '95 and Kim Mendelson '97, while Julia Morrill '98 hit a pair.UMass freshman Sarah Goddard added a goal to close the first half and Dartmouth took an enormous 11-3 lead into the intermission.
Dartmouth Coach Amy Patton told her players that if they played as a team they could easily beat UMass. The first half went according to plan and Dartmouth's team attack overwhelmed Massachusetts.
But in the second half the team's game plan started to sputter. "We came out strong but we need to maintain that level of play for the whole 60 minute game. Right now we are a first half team," Patton said.
"They are an athletic and hard working team. They almost shut us down in the second half," Devens said.
Despite a goal by Massachusetts' Vicky Nedomansky on from Dignazio, completing her hat trick, Dartmouth added two goals each from Holleran and Devens before the final whistle.
"Sarah [Devens] had a really good game, one of her best of the season," Patton said. "She was strong in her ball movements, cuts and in going to goal."
Dartmouth recorded 29 shots on goal while goalie Kirsten Prettyman '95 turned away six of Massachusetts' 11 shots.
Massachusetts lost its women's lacrosse program for a number of years due to budget cuts by the school. This is its third season back and the team appears to be getting better.
"UMass is getting stronger every year and they have some talented younger players in their program now," Patton said."They were a powerhouse in the past and it wouldn't surprise me if they were again in the future."
The Big Green now look ahead to playing their Ivy League rival Cornell on the road this coming weekend.
"We're a much strong team than Cornell but it is always hard to play them away," Patton said. "If we play as a team we should have no problem."
