LEWISTON, Me. – The No. 5 ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team scored eight unanswered goals to open the game, taking a 10-1 lead into halftime before closing out a season-opening 15-5 win over Bates on the road on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals open a new season with a win for the first time since 2023.
 
With several new faces sliding into new roles this season, it was a pair of upperclassmen who had statement performances. Kyra Browne '26 set a single-game team record with 11 draw controls, helping lead the Cardinals to a massive 18-5 edge in draw controls for the game. Browne's 11 draw controls are one better than the previous single-game record of 10 held by Bridget Horst '26 and Caroline Sgaglione '19. The other familiar face starring in a new role was Maddie Shoemaker '27 who poured in a career-high five goals to lead the team. This marked Shoemaker's first career hat trick while it's the first five-goal game for a Cardinal since the 2024 season.
 
The contest opened with goals on the opening two possessions for the Cardinals with Shoemaker finishing a feed from classmate Mya Waryas '27 before Caroline Cervini '27 cashed in on a free position shot just 37 seconds later.
 
Wesleyan again scored a pair of goals in quick succession as Waryas found the back of the net off a feed from Browne before Elle Priesing '26 made it 4-0 Wesleyan as she buried her first of the season off a pass from Cervini.
 
Bates called timeout but couldn't find any footing as the Bobcats committed turnovers on three straight possessions, opening the door for Wesleyan to add to their lead with goals coming from Abby Galaris '29, Shoemaker and Addie Cummings '26 in a span of under two minutes.
 
Two more Bates turnovers followed and Shoemaker completed her first career hat trick with another goal to make it 8-0 Wesleyan at the end of the first period.
 
Bates found the net for the first time in the game early in the second quarter, but that was the lone goal allowed by the Cardinals in the first half as Shoemaker scored again before Waryas added her second to make it a 10-1 lead at halftime.
 
The Bobcats outscored the Cardinals 3-2 in the third quarter and made it 12-5 Wesleyan with 13:14 remaining in the fourth quarter but the game was put to bed with back-to-back player-up goals from Cummings and Shoemaker followed by Priesing's second goal of the game to give Wesleyan their first double-digit lead of the game.
 
Shots favored Wesleyan 34-17 while the Cardinals went 5-for-11 on free positions while Bates had just one free position shot in the game.
 
Waryas tied her career-high with a five-point game, finishing with three goals and two assists. Cummings registered a hat trick with three goals and Priesing finished with two scores. Galaris and Cervini each recorded one goal and one assist for a two-point game.
 
Lindsey Diomede '26 was all over the field, totaling three ground balls, five draw controls, two caused turnovers and one assist. Kate Tracy '27 posted three ground balls in her first career start. Elise Kurtis '29 tallied a team-leading three caused turnovers in her collegiate debut.
 
Izzy Weintraub '26 played the full 60 minutes in cage and registered five saves with two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
 
Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday, March 7 with a spotlight showdown against Franklin & Marshall at Noon.