LEWISTON, ME – No.17 women's lacrosse lived up to their preseason ranking in their decisive 17-3 win over Bates Saturday afternoon. The nationally ranked Cardinals are coming off a trip to the NESCAC Tournament Championship in the abbreviated 2021 season. Wesleyan lost 14-3 to #3 Tufts in the championship game, finishing their shortened year 3-3. In today's matchup, the Cards dominated from start to finish as they look to start the season on the right foot.
Wesleyan wins the season opener, moving to 1-0 on the young season (1-0 NESCAC). This was Bates 3
rd game of 2022, falling to 1-2 (0-1 NESCAC) with both of their losses coming to top 25 teams (#25 U. of Chicago 8-7 OT).
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The first goal of the 2022 season was put through by Gil Horst '23 on the free position attempt. Horst beat the goalie low, giving the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. The Cards would score six straight to open up the game (Laura Baine '24 (2 goals), Chessy Greenwald '23 (1 goal), Horst (2 goals), Kendall Mittleman '23 (1 goal).
- Bates would finally get on the board with four minutes remaining in the 1st capitalizing on a Wesleyan penalty. Wesleyan would go on to score two more goals in the first 15 minutes, capped off by Baines early hattrick. Wesleyan led 8-2 after one
- The Cardinals would dominate possession in the 2nd, holding Bates scoreless over the next 15+ minutes. They would add three more goals (Olivia Lai '23 (2 goals), Kate Balicki '23 (1 goal)) to go into halftime up 11-2. Lai beat the halftime buzzer off a pass by Mittleman to complete her two-goal 2nd quarter
- Wesleyan controlled the 3rd quarter as well, scoring four more unanswered to really put the game out of reach
- Bates put one more goal through late in the 4th, setting the finals score at 17-3
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Laura Baine and Olivia Lai both had hat-tricks (3 goals)
- Baine also led the way with three assists
- Greenwald, Horst, and Balicki each scored two goals
- 10 different Cardinals score
- Wesleyan outshot Bates 34-13
UP NEXT:
Wesleyan will return to action Wednesday, March 9
th where they will travel to face off against Babson. The Beavers are 1-0 so far, with a 13-10 win over Skidmore in their season opener.