The women’s lacrosse team commenced its season by splitting two games in its first week of action, commanding Merrimack University 17-11 in Saturday’s home opener before falling 19-10 on the road to Columbia University on Wednesday.
Freshman attacker Georgia Swarr led the Leopards (1-1 overall) in scoring against Merrimack (0-3 overall) with four goals, the first of which came three minutes in to open the scoring.
“I got back checked, and they gave me a free position,” Swarr said. “I just focus on getting to the middle and having space for my stick and then shooting low and aiming for the corner.”
Freshman midfielder Emma Toner tacked on another score five minutes later before the Warriors responded with a two-goal streak of their own. Four different Leopards proceeded to contribute to a 4-0 run into the second quarter, giving the Maroon and White a lead that they would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
“I think we just needed to get a little bit of a push,” senior attacker Olivia Hover said. “We were moving the ball well, and we had to find those openings.”
The Warriors outscored the Leopards 4-3 for the rest of the half — a span that saw Swarr complete the hat trick — bringing the Maroon and White lead to 9-6.
Senior midfielder Olivia Kelley said the team relied on its “basic skills” coming out of halftime.
“Once we had a few possessions under our belt, we’re able to really get a rhythm going,” she said.
Despite Merrimack drawing first blood in the second half, the Leopards pieced together a 6-0 run that lasted nearly 17 minutes to ultimately close out the game. Hover accounted for two of the scores, putting her at three on the day.
“We have a lot of spark players that play a big role in bringing energy to the whole team,” Swarr said. “It shows how we move as a unit all across the field.”
Merrimack belted off a four-goal streak in garbage time, followed by two Leopard strikes to seal the deal.
“It’s hard to not ride the wave, but when you’re running with everyone on your team, they truly keep you going,” said Kelley, who polished off the third Leopard hat trick late in the fourth. “It was truly a whole team effort.”
Senior goalkeeper Kennedy Carr recorded 12 saves in her first collegiate start.
“She was the backbone of our defense,” Hover said about Carr.
Wednesday’s contest against Columbia (2-0 overall) proved to be a different story for the Leopards. After senior attacker Kristin Igneri converted on a shot just over 90 seconds in — tying the game at one apiece — the Maroon and White failed to keep up with the Lions for the rest of the match.
“Today was obviously not what we wanted the outcome to be, but it’s early enough in the season that we can take it and turn the tide,” Kelley said.
Columbia carried the momentum from the 5-2 first quarter, tacking on three more goals before sophomore midfielder Isabella Pohmer broke the scoring run. Toner matched the Lions’ two goals before the break, trailing 10-5.
Pohmer broke through first for the Leopards after half, but the Lions outpaced the Maroon and White 9-4 for the remainder of the game to clinch the wire-to-wire victory.
“They were a super aggressive team, and that aggression is really going to help us for when we hit Patriot League play,” Kelley said.
Toner found the net four times for the Leopards on the day. Igneri, Pohmer and freshman attacker Charlotte Ullman each tallied two in the loss.
“The biggest thing for them is just continuing to be confident,” Kelley said about the team’s freshman class. “It’s really tough to jump into a college-level game, but they’re taking it really well.”
The Leopards will return to Fisher Stadium on Saturday to take on Mount St. Mary’s University (1-1 overall).