On a cold, leap year day, the Marist women’s lacrosse team played as cool as the temperature outside. They toppled the Binghamton Bearcats 17-7 to win their first game of the season.
Coming into this game, senior Samantha Mehalick had recently moved to third on Marist’s all-time points list with her first goal against Rutgers. Junior Kelly George had also found her way to seventh on the all-time assists list for the Red Foxes. The pair of attackers continued today, putting points up on the board. Mehalick scored seven goals this afternoon, while George picked up a handful of assists.
Junior Devon Connelly scored a hat-trick in the first half for the Red Foxes. Connelly, as well as senior Carly Grant finished the game with four goals and Connelly tallied an assist.
Head coach Jessica Wilkinson said that her team, “has been working really hard to put things together on the attacking end and the defensive end. Today was a really good day for both sides. I know we won by a lot of goals, but I know that we are also looking to build off of this going forward. It’s a great win for us, for sure.”
The scoresheet speaks for itself on the offensive end, having several different people either tally a goal or an assist. On the defensive end, the Red Foxes played as cool as the snow flurries that came down in the second half. With ice in their veins, goalkeepers Delaney Galvin and Chloe Monroe ended with a combined total of 18 saves. Junior Allison Mahoney led the defense with three ground balls, which helped the team clear the ball up the field.
“It felt so awesome to win at home,” Mehalick notes. “It was our first win and we have been working since September, since we came to school, and to put everything together and to finally have it show was such a good feeling.”
It is safe to say that the Red Foxes were feeling great today. Not only was the team putting up points, making big saves, and stopping Binghamton in the midfield, but their energy was electric, especially on the sidelines. Teammates and coaches were dancing to the music blasting on the speakers, jumping around, and cheering each other on. Mehalick says that “our bench is so amazing. Being on the field and just hearing them, it makes you want to do it for them. Having 30 girls on our team is huge, and we are never playing for ourselves, it’s always for everyone else.”
The Red Foxes look to continue this roll of confidence with their next home game, which is against UMASS Lowell on March 10, at 7 pm at Tenney Stadium.
Edited by Amelia Nick
Header Image by Gabby Ricciardi