Women's Lacrosse Claims First Win on Opening Day

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Worcester State University women's lacrosse team grabbed a season-opening 10-6 win over Smith College Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at the Smith Turf Field.

With the win, Worcester State jumps to 1-0 on the season, while Smith drops to 0-1.

The Lancers got out to a rampant start, scoring the game's first six goals in just under 18 minutes to sprint out to the early advantage. Junior Kylie Hill (Lunenburg, Mass.) scored Worcester State's first goal of the season just under six minutes in, and tallied two assists during the run that put the Lancers firmly in control. Sophomore Maddy Brennan (Pomfret, Conn.) and senior Rachel Hopkins (Chelmsford, Mass.) each scored twice during the streak, while freshman Sarah DesVergnes (Limerick, Maine) tallied her first collegiate goal.

Smith started climbing back into the contest in the latter stages of the first half, outscoring Worcester State 4-1 in the final 11:06 of the period to trail by just a three goal margin of 7-4 at the break. Bryn Murray scored a pair of goals for the Pioneers in the stretch, while Worcester State's lone tally came from rookie Lily Gendron (Lakeville, Mass.).

Brennan completed her hat trick just over a minute into the second half, and moments later DesVergnes netted her second of the afternoon to extend Worcester State's lead to five. Murray and Kaitlin Chiu added second half tallies for Smith, but Lancer junior Coley Hayes (Norwood, Mass.) cemented the win with a goal of her own with 4:05 to play. 

Worcester State netminder Chloe O'Brien (Sturbridge, Mass.) was stellar to get the opening day win. The junior recorded 16 stops, her most since her rookie year, to start the season in the win column. For Smith, the loss was credited to Alyssa Schams despite eight saves.

Worcester State will look to stay unbeaten when their season-opening road trip continues on Saturday at noon at Gordon College.

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