The USM women’s lacrosse rebounded from a 18-7 loss to M.I.T. on Saturday by exploding with 14 goals to defeat St. Joseph’s College 14-8 at Hodgdon Field in Gorham on Tuesday afternoon.
Sophomores Shelby Turcotte (Lewiston) and Lauren Santo (Salem, N.H.) each scored four goals to lead the Huskies’ strong performance. Things got off to a bit of a rocky start with the Monks scoring the first goal only 15 seconds into the game. USM fought back in a hurry when they answered with one goal off the next draw and another moments later to take a 2-1 lead.
Thanks to a swarming defense the Huskies were able to keep St Joe’s to just three goals in the first half. Also, possession stayed in USM’s favor for nearly the entire opening ten minutes. At the 15-minute mark St. Joe’s attack Cassie Diplock scored the first of her four goals on the day with an unassisted series of maneuvers from midfield.
Senior Mary Vaughan (Brunswick) scored two quick goals late in the first half, with one coming directly after a penalty gave the Huskies’ possession and another, an unassisted try from point-blank range streaking by the left side of goal. Turcotte scored her fourth goal with four minutes left in the half to make it a seven goal deficit going into the break.
St. Joe’s came out a more focused team in the second half as they outscored the Huskies’ 5-4, but USM’s first half lead was too much for the Monks to counter.
“We tried just focusing on our game and winning every possible 50/50 ball and draw what we could,” USM Head Coach Lauren Reid said.
The Huskies got a boost of confidence every time sophomore goalie Samantha Kiesel (Lakeville, Mass.) made one of her game-high fourteen saves. She wasn’t able to stop them all, however, and midway through the second half the Monks got to within five goals when Diplock netted her fourth, forcing Coach Reid to call timeout to try and get the momentum back on their side.
It seemed to work as USM closed out a four minute possession with freshman Rosie Foster (Andover, Mass.) finding the net for the first of her two goals on the day.
The Huskies continued to pad their halftime lead with their anchor, sophomore defender Katie Grenier (Oakland) contributing a goal of her own that proved to be the last of the match. “The defense has been put under a lot of pressure the past few games, and we’ve been working on everyone playing both sides of the ball in practice, helping us improve on both of those skills sets,” Reid said.
With the win, the Huskies’ record improves to 3-8. They will travel to Western Connecticut on Saturday for a Little East match-up beginning at noon.