Women's Lacrosse Drops GNAC Opener to Colby-Sawyer Saturday

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's lacrosse team dropped its home and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener, 19-1, to the Colby-Sawyer College (CSC) Chargers on Saturday afternoon at Arute Field on the campus of Central Connecticut State University. With the loss, the Blue Jays fall to 0-2 overall on the season and 0-1 in the GNAC, while the Chargers win their season and conference opener to improve to 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.

The Blue Jays didn't have an answer for Chargers' senior attack Sierra Schuster (Hopkinton, N.H.) who finished with a game-high six goals on the day. The veteran was a force to be reckoned with from the opening draw, scoring four of Colby-Sawyer's first six goals, as the Chargers raced out to an early 6-0 lead halfway through the first period.

Three more unanswered goals by CSC pushed the lead to 9-0 before senior attack Brittany Ireland (Amherst, N.H.) potted back-to-back goals to balloon the visitors' advantage to 11-0 with 10:06 to play before the intermission. The Chargers would tack on two more goals before the break to head into the locker rooms with a commanding, 13-0, lead.

Ireland and Schuster picked up right where they left off in the second half as they each tallied another goal sandwiched around a goal from freshman attack Caroline Tompkins (Marblehead, Mass.) to make it 16-0 with just under 12 minutes left in regulation. Two more goals, including the fourth by Ireland, increased the CSC to 18-0 before the Blue Jays finally cracked through.

With just under six minutes to go in regulation, freshman attack Taya Valdez (East Lyme, Conn.) collected a perfect feed from sophomore midfielder Abigail Horner (Niantic, Conn.) inside the arc and Valdez fired a shot past CSC's goalkeeper to account for the Blue Jays' lone goal on the afternoon. The Chargers tacked on one more goal in the waning minutes to account for the 19-1 final margin.

Schuster was efficient finishing with six goals on eight shot attempts in the match, while Ireland ended with four goals and two assists on the afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Jess Tattersall (Keene, N.H.) also posted a hat trick for the Chargers finishing with three goals and an assist.

Valdez accounted for the lone marker for USJ and Valdez along with freshman midfielder Jenna Banta (Montville, Conn.) each took a team-high four shots. They each put two of their four shots on frame.

Junior goalkeeper Kailyn Lapham (Medway, Mass.) earned the victory between the pipes for the Chargers making three saves without allowing a goal over 30 minutes of action. She was relieved by freshman keeper Maddie Langdon (The Woodlands, Texas) in the second half who finished with two stops in the final 30 minutes of action.

Freshman Silvana Barcomb (Middletown, Conn.) was dealt with the tough loss and drops to 0-2 on the season for USJ. She finished with 17 saves.

Up Next
The USJ women's lacrosse team will be back in action next on Monday, March 11 when they travel to Dean College. The opening draw between the Blue Jays and Bulldogs is slated for 12:00 p.m.

Follow USJ Athletics
For the latest on University of Saint Joseph Athletics, follow the Blue Jays on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Fans can also download the USJ Front Row Mobile App and subscribe to our Newsletter and Text Alerts. #WinTheDay #GoBlueJays