2023 Women's Lacrosse Recap: Offensive Domination With Solid Goalkeeping

The 2023 season for the Lancers ended shy of where the team hoped to finish this season, with a second-round playoff exit. Despite that, there were numerous accomplishments by the team and players throughout the year that made this one of the most remarkable seasons for the program. 

Kelly Downs (56-50)(52.83%) entered her seventh season as head coach of the Lancers. At her side were assistant coaches Hayley Sutherland in her third season and Emma Davis entering her sixth season. 

This year's captains who were selected by their coaches and teammates were senior defenders Meghan Haines (Agawam, MA) and Lauren McIntyre (Tewksbury, MA) along with senior midfielder Lily Gendron (Lakeville, MA) and attacker Shea Jarvis (Auburn, MA).

The Lancers finished the season 10-9 (.526) with a MASCAC record of 5-2 (.714), which saw them tie for second in the conference. Due to numerous levels of tie breakers the Lancers were assigned the fourth seed for the tournament where they would defeat the fifth-seeded Salem State Vikings in the quarterfinal with a score of 17-3. They advanced to play the one-seeded Westfield State Owls in the quarterfinal on the road where they were handed a 21-10 loss to end their season. Westfield State would eventually go on to win the MASCAC championship.  

The team was in the top half of the conference in nearly all statistical categories. They finished third in the MASCAC in goals (238) thanks in large part to Jarvis and graduate student attacker Clare Conway (Billerica, MA) who both combined for 101 of those goals. The team, and the duo, were able to record that many by finishing second in the conference in shots on goal (472), showcasing the ability to separate and create opportunities with accuracy as their shots on goal percentage were also second best (81.6%), topping even Westfield State, and just 0.9% lower than the leader Framingham State Rams. The Lancers displayed great vision and passing by finishing second in the conference in assists (142) in large part because of the play of sophomore attacker Ashley Hurley (Feeding Hills, MA) who led the team in assists (23).  The team also showed aggressiveness by being first in the conference in ground balls (386). 

Continuing off of team statistics, the Lancers finished in the bottom half of the MASCAC in turnovers (346), a statistic every team wants to see as small a number as possible. While Worcester State finished second to last in free-position shots (59) they did finish fourth in the conference in free-shot goals (39). They didn't attract many fouls, but once they found themselves in free-position shot opportunities, they were able to take advantage.

Senior goalie Savanna Rosado (Milford, MA) led the charge in net as she was the go-to starter for every game this season but one. Sophomore goalkeeper Sofia Perivolotis (Littleton, MA) appeared in five games with first-year keeper Andrea Rennie (Marlborough, MA) appearing and starting in one game on the season. Each combined to make the Lancers second in saves for the season (191) and second in save percentage (48.5%).    

Worcester State had a powerful one-two punch with Jarvis and Conway. Both were named to the 2023 Women's Lacrosse All-Conference First Team. Conway led the team in goals (54) and points (74). Jarvis was just behind her on the team in goals (47) and points (67). Those goal counts found Conway fourth in the conference while Jarvis would finish in eighth in the conference. Points-wise, Conway ended the season fourth in the MASCAC while Jarvis ended in seventh. Both athletes also showed the ability to find the open player for assists as they both recorded 20 assists, which was tied for third-best on the team and tied for tenth in the conference. 

Conway reached a 200 career goal milestone as she is just the fourth player in Lancer history to reach this difficult accomplishment. In the same game, Conway also racked up her 300th career point which has only been done twice in the program's history.  In the same game, Jarvis notched her 100th career goal as well as reaching the 100-point milestone a few games earlier in the season. In the final game of the season, Conway would record her 100th career assist to wrap up an impressive career.

The 2023 Women's Lacrosse All-Conference Second Team had three Lancers selected. First-year attacker Mckayla Fisher (Peabody, MA), senior goalie Savanna Rosado, and captain Lily Gendron were each named to the team. 

Fisher impressed in her first season as she was named MASCAC Rookie of the Week three times in a row. Fisher ended her season second on the team in assists (22) and third on the team in goals (28) and points (50). Fisher also showcased her defensive abilities leading the conference in caused turnovers (38). Fisher finished the season first on the team in ground balls (63). The future of the Lancers will be in good hands with the first year for seasons to come. 

Gendron in her senior year finished the season fourth on the team in goals (25) and points (38). In the conference, those numbers would be good for tied for 26th in goals and tied for 23rd in assists. Joining in on the career milestones, Gendron recorded her 100th point earlier in the season. Gendron ended the season second in ground balls (56) and second in draw controls (70). She was also second in caused turnovers on the team (20). 

Rosado was a major part of the Lancers success this year as well. The senior also had a career milestone of 300 saves during this season. Rosado ended the year second in saves (176) while having the fourth-best save percentage (48.5%) in the MASCAC. As a goalie, she played the most games (18) in the conference while playing the second most minutes (1008:06). Rosado also had the most wins in the conference for a goalie (10). 

Other noticeable highlights from the season included senior attacker Emily Pavoni (Granby, MA) who finished fifth on the team in goals (19). First-year midfielder Cailey Ryan (Acton, MA) tied for third in assists on the season (20), finished third in caused turnovers (17), and led the team in draw controls (72). Ryan had a noticeable 28 points on the season as well. Along with leading the team in assists, Hurley finished fifth on the team in points (33).

Sophomore attacker/midfielder Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, MA), first-year attacker/midfielder Abigail Vincent (Lakeville, MA), and first-year attacker Molly Witkowski (Port Jervis, NY) all scored double-digit goals on the season. Erickson with 13, Vincent with 11, and Witkowski with 10. Along with goals, Erickson had 16 points, and Vincent and Witkowski each finished with 13 points. 

The 2023 team will be graduating and losing eight players including major pieces such as Conway, Rosado, Gendron, and Pavoni. They will also be losing leadership and captains Haines and McIntyre. Senior attacker Bridget Smestad (Branford, CT) will also be lost to graduation who had one goal and three assists on the year and Jessica McKenzie (Mendon, MA) who finished the season with one goal and five assists.

The remaining Lancers must step up and fill in for the production lost from the seniors and Conway. The future looks bright as Jarvis, Fisher, Ryan, Hurley, Vincent, Erickson, Witkowski and company now have another year of experience on their sticks and will try and make big jumps in their game to bring home a MASCAC Championship for Worcester State.

 ~ Sean Rollins ~