Women's Lacrosse Smothers Dean In Season Opener

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's lacrosse team dismantled visiting Dean College, 17-0, in their 2017 season opener at Leary Field Thursday night. With the win, the Blazers improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Bulldogs slide to 0-5 overall.

The Blazers cracked the scoreboard less than three minutes into the contest as freshman Haley Richard (Monson, Mass.) netted her first collegiate goal. Richards converted her second of the game off a feed from junior Haley Roberts (Westfield, Mass.) in the fourth minute, followed by a tally from sophomore Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) to give Elms a 3-0 lead with 26:02 to play. Richard registered her first career hat trick with her third goal at the 25:18 mark.

Leading 5-0 after a goal from Vurno, senior Kathleen Tuechler (Farmingdale, N.Y.) sandwiched a pair of strikes around a goal from Richard, which Tuechler assisted, to extend the Blazers advantage to 8-0 with 16:25 left in the first half. Tuechler notched her first hat trick of the season at the 14:51, while tallies from Roberts and sophomore Mackenzie Hill (Brownfield, Maine) pushed Elms ahead 11-0. Freshmen Janis Christian (Westfield, Mass.) and Kaila Abrams (Derry, N.H.) each recorded their first collegiate goals down the stretch to hand Elms a 14-0 lead at the half.

The Blazers carried their offensive momentum into the second half as junior Arianna Santiago-Sullivan (Willimantic, Conn.) net her first collegiate goal with 28:48 on the clock. With 26:15 to play, junior Madison Crawford (Bennington, Vt.) found the back of the net on a free-position opportunity to put Elms up 16-0. The Blazers play a possession game to close out the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to one shot in the period, and senior Sabrina Pereira (South Windsor, Conn.) delivered the final strike to send Elms to the 17-0 victory.

Richard paced the Blazers offense with six points on four goals and two assists. Tuechler added five points with three goals and two assists, while Vurno had three points with two goals and an assist. Christian and Roberts tallied two points each in the win. Senior Meeghan O'Connor (1-0; Fall River, Mass.) collected the win in goal, recording one save.

The Blazers will return to action when they host Daniel Webster College in their New England Collegiate Conference opener on Leary Field Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Dean hosts MCLA Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

ELMS LACROSSE