LATROBE, Pa. (April 19) – The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team rode a fast start to an 18-10 Senior Day win over Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Bethany College at a snowy UPMC Field.
Saint Vincent (8-6, 3-2 PAC) scored six unanswered goals in the second quarter to break open a tie game and continued to add to its lead throughout the first half. Bethany (6-8, 1-3 PAC) traded goals with the Bearcats throughout the second half, but was unable to overcome the large early deficit.
Joey Smith celebrated her Senior Day in style by recording 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists), her third consecutive game with more than 10 points and fifth double-digit scoring output of the season.
Bridget Doyle turned in a 6-point game, with three goals and three assists, while
Rachel Thatcher scored a team-leading four goals and senior
Emily Taylor three.
Kaylee Bandow and
Hannah-Marie Starner each scored two goals, and
Maggie Edwards recorded three points on one goal and two helpers. Starner also led SVC with eight draw controls to up her total to 109 on the season, a new team record.
Goalie
Kyra Lipetzky led the SVC defensive effort, making 14 saves and collecting four ground balls. Edwards and Thatcher shared the SVC team lead with five ground balls apiece, while
Taylor Hochard finished with four caused turnovers and senior
Sammi Headley, Edwards and Thatcher each causing three turnovers.
Smith got the scoring underway early, netting her first goal of the day, assisted by Edwards, with 11:21 left in the opening quarter. Bethany tied it three minutes later, but SVC ended the first quarter on a 5-0 run, using another goal from Smith, two from Thatcher, and one each from Starner and Bandow to take a 6-1 lead at the close of one quarter.
Just 15 seconds into the second quarter, Doyle's first goal of the day upped the SVC lead to 7-1, before Taylor, Thatcher, Bandow and Smith all scored over the final 12 minutes of the half to give the Bearcats an 11-4 halftime lead.
The third quarter opened with Taylor and Doyle scoring seven seconds apart to push the SVC lead to 13-4, but the Bison answered with two quick goals to cut the deficit to seven, 14-7, with 6:09 left in the quarter. Taylor promptly completed her hat trick with a man-up goal with 5:13 left and the score would remain 15-8 in favor of SVC through the remainder of the quarter.
The teams traded scores throughout the fourth quarter, with Doyle, Thatcher and Starner closing out SVC's scoring and sealing their fourth straight victory.
After her 10-point day, Smith sits with 99 points on the season, and is on the verge of turning in only the fifth 100-point season for a player in team history. Her 117 career assists rank third all-time in team history, while her 213 career points rank fourth.
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, April 23, when they travel to Thiel for a 4 p.m. PAC matchup.
