Women's Lacrosse Drops GNAC Opener to Saint Joseph's (Maine) Saturday

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's lacrosse team dropped its 2025 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener, falling to the visiting Saint Joseph's College of Maine (SJC) Monks, 16-0, Saturday afternoon at the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn. It marked the first time the Blue Jays were shut out since March 16, 2019, which coincidentally happened to also be against the Monks. With the result, the Blue Jays fell to 1-3 overall on the season and started GNAC play 0-1, while the Monks improved to 2-2 overall and started 1-0 in conference action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• SJC opened the scoring 3:54 into the contest when Celia Melanson delivered a pass to a cutting Ella Highbarger, who faked a shot once before beating USJ junior goalkeeper Colleen Stringer (Point Lookout, N.Y.) with a shot into the top-right corner of the goal.
• Highbarger turned distributor for the Monks' next goal as she found Sophia Burton to put the visitors up 2-0 with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter
• Taylor Dumond doubled the SJC lead with back-to-back goals, including a woman-up goal with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter, giving the Monks a 4-0 edge after the opening period.
• The second quarter saw the Monks score six times, with Melanson, Burton and Shauna Clark all finding the back of the net, before Highbarger rattled off three straight scores over the final 2:32 of the second quarter to give the Monks a 10-0 lead entering halftime.
• SJC maintained its momentum in the second half, adding four more goals in the third quarter and two in the fourth to secure a convincing 16-0 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Highbarger paced the Monks with a six-point game, finishing with five goals and an assist.
• Dumond also netted a hat trick, registering four goals and an assist for a five-point outing.
• USJ's sophomore midfielder Anna LeGault (Colchester, Conn.) and freshman midfielder Kaylynn Lapointe each recorded two shots, with LeGault firing one on target.
• Junior midfielder Alana Picard (Windsor Locks, Conn.) stood out defensively for the Blue Jays, finishing with a game-high four caused turnovers and scooping up a game-high four ground balls.
• SJC outshot USJ 38-6, including a 28-2 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Monks also held a 13-6 advantage in draw controls and doubled up the Blue Jays in ground balls, 28-14.
• Stringer played the first 30 minutes between the pipes for USJ and was dealt the loss (1-3). She finished the day with five saves against 15 shots on goal faced.
• Junior goalkeeper Ariel DiSanti (Agawam, Mass.) played the second half and stopped seven of the 13 shots on goal fired at her.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays head to the Keystone State over spring break to take on Ursinus College on Wednesday, March 12. The action between the Blue Jays and Bears is scheduled to get underway at 12:00 p.m. from Patterson Field in Collegeville, Pa.

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