PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Feb. 20) –  Led by 10 points from Joey Smith and six goals from Bridget Doyle, the Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team opened the 2022 season with a 26-5 win at La Roche.

A total of 11 different Bearcats (1-0) scored at least one goal, while SVC out-shot La Roche (0-1) 45-6 and forced 26 Redhawk turnovers on the afternoon. The 26 goals are the most scored in a game by Saint Vincent since a 27-13 win over Waynesburg on April 12, 2014.

The Bearcats wasted little time in finding the net, as Hannah-Marie Starner scored the game's first goal 50 seconds into the first quarter, assisted by Smith. Smith then got in on the act just eight seconds later to make it 2-0, before Rachel Thatcher, Kaylee Bandow and Doyle added goals over the next four minutes to up the Bearcat lead to 5-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the opening frame. Before the quarter was over, the Bearcats would receive goals from Maggie Edwards, Doyle, Bandow and Smith to take a commanding 9-2 lead into the second frame.

Smith and Doyle scored two goals apiece in the second quarter, while Thatcher, Edwards and Caroline Mullineaux each scored once, to give SVC a 16-4 halftime lead. The Bearcats went on to score all five goals in the third quarter, with two from Doyle and one apiece from Smith, Luciana Polk and Gabby Salandro, before Starner, Mullineaux, Emily Taylor and Jessica Persin each scored in the fourth quarter to close out the dominant victory.

Starner (3G, 1A), Bandow (2G, 2A) and Thatcher (2G, 2A) all totaled four points on the afternoon, while Edwards finished with three points, on two goals and one assist.

Along with Starner's four-point effort, she also led both sides with 13 draw controls. Thatcher led the Bearcats with four ground balls and four caused turnovers. In all, 12 different players collected at least two ground balls for SVC.

Saint Vincent will now have a nearly three-week respite before returning to action on March 9, when it travels to Wooster for a 6:30 p.m. non-conference bout.