Elizabethtown College’s women’s lacrosse team fell short this past week after losing to Dickinson College on Tuesday and Messiah College on Saturday. The Blue Jays remained scoreless in their loss to Dickinson when they were defeated 18-0 at Biddle Field. First-year Addie Stang recorded the first goal of the season for the Blue Jays during Etown’s 18-1 loss to Messiah.
First-year goalie Beata Palosz made seven saves against Dickinson, but the Red Devils opened up an 11-0 lead en route to handing the Blue Jays their first loss of the season.
The Red Devils (1-0) scored within the first three minutes of the game when Caroline Clancy found the back of the net. Clancy, Catie Ledwick, Sophie Waine and Maddy Siebold each scored twice, and Dickinson built a 10-0 lead by the 10:35 mark of the first half. Clancy completed a hat trick right before halftime, and Siebold added to her four-point afternoon in the second half.
Palosz stopped five of 12 Red Devil shots on goal in the second half.
Dickinson held a 38-2 shot advantage and won all 20 draws. Etown was 6-of-18 on clears, including 3-of-8 in the second half.
The Blue Jays were restricted to just two shots on goal. One attempt was from first-year Kasey Scully, and the other attempt was a shot from first-year Becky Graessle.
Etown’s Assistant Coach Linda Delany learned from this first game of the season that the Jays need to improve in some skill areas, but she explained how the team has a realistic grip on their team goals and the players have a great attitude to help them be successful. “Our main focus is for the girls to enjoy playing lacrosse with one another,” Delaney said. “It is exciting to see how far the team bonding has come along, and I know it will only get stronger as we continue our season.” Additional goals this season are for the players to become more competitive, improve their athleticism and work on their stick skills.
The Blue Jays faced Messiah on Saturday in Grantham, Pa. and Etown already began to show improvement since facing Dickinson. Although the improvements did not show on the scoreboard (18-1), the game was still a sign of progress, since the Etown roster has minimal experience in playing together.
Liz Keeney and Shayna Delaney finished with hat tricks for the Falcons. The Blue Jays generated eight shots on goal and earned five free position attempts.
Sophomore midfielder captain Dana Robidoux won three draws and Scully won two. Etown took 8 of 20 draws, varying tremendously from the Dickinson game when the Jays left without a single draw.
Messiah was able to spread out its scoring amongst the team with 11 players scoring at least one point. Carly Bajus, Claire Stikeleather and Courtney Farlling each scored two goals, allowing five Falcons to record multiple goals.
Palosz made five saves in 51 minutes for Etown before sophomore Leah Nissley came in to relieve her. Nissley stopped a single shot by the Falcons in the final nine minutes of the game. Messiah goalie Sarah Dolan earned the win with four saves in 48 minutes.
Graessele had a strong game, picking up a game-high five ground balls for Etown, causing a turnover and contributing to one of the team’s eight draw controls.
Sophomore captain Briana Rogers said that the first game was a big learning experience for many of the girls on the team. Due to the inclement weather, the Dickinson matchup was the first time many of the players had an opportunity to play on a field together. “Our main focus is on the fundamentals and technical skills,” Rogers said. “Therefore, in practice, we are making sure we are a technically sound team that can play with consistency.”
Etown will be back on the field March 5, where the Blue Jays face Rutgers-Camden at 4 p.m. in New Jersey.
