Women’s Lax Knocks Off Stevenson – Lady Eagles Coast Past No. 19 Mustangs With a 14-6 Win

By MORGAN THOMPSON

The University of Mary Washington women’s lacrosse team won an important game this past Saturday with a 14-6 victory over Stevenson University. The Lady Eagles have had a strong season overall, as the victory improved their CAC record to 5-0 and their overall record to 7-2.

“I am very proud of my team. We beat another top 20 team. We are working hard and performing well,” Head Coach Dana Hall said. “It was a whole team effort. The offense played well; the defense played as a unit, forcing bad shots; and freshman keeper Leigh Ann Redefer came up with huge saves.”

Stevenson got on the scoreboard first, when the Mustangs netted the first goal not even three minutes into the game. However, the Eagles responded well, as UMW exploded for five unanswered goals in just over 10 minutes of game action. Sophomore All-American Katherine Kennedy and senior co-captain Brittany Butler scored a pair of goals during the Eagles scoring binge, and sophomore Allie Kimmelman added the other goal as UMW took a 5-1 advantage with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half.

After a Stevenson goal ended the run of consecutive goals from the home team, the Eagles answered once again as sophomore attacker Lauren Callison and junior attacker Katie Wallis each had shots end up in the back of the net to extend the UMW lead up to five goals. Each team added another goal before the intermission, where UMW held an 8-3 lead.

“We followed the game plan,” Hall said. “This was a team that we knew was quick and strong who liked going one-on-one. We shut down the challenges.”

The Eagles came out strong after the break, as UMW scored six of the first seven goals of the half to take a commanding 14-4 lead. Stevenson tacked on a couple of runs late, but UMW still won comfortably 14-6.

The Mustangs’ Kelli Battista had a great game in the defeat, accounting for four points (two goals and two assists) of her team’s six total points in the game.

Kennedy led the UMW charge over Stevenson, tallying six points (five goals and one assist). Butler and Wallis were also major contributors in the convincing win, as they scored four goals and three goals respectively.

“I think overall we have been able to come together as a team,” Butler said. “We know what each other are going to do on the field before it even happens, and that’s beneficial both on offense and defense. We need to continue to play with the intensity that we have had when playing against top teams and not let the other team dictate our level of play.”

Senior co-captain Ashley Scutari echoed Butler’s statement.

“Even though we are doing well with a 7-2 overall record thus far, there is always room for improvement,” Scutari said.” Our goal since the beginning of the season is to win CACs and receive an automatic bid to the NCAAs.”

Coach Hall reiterated what her captain said, saying that even though UMW has secured at least the second seed in the CAC tournament, they still have work to do.

“Our goals from the beginning have been to secure a chance to play for the conference title and secure a bid in the NCAA tournament,” Hall said. “We need to take one game at a time to achieve that.”