Cooper Mead

Contributing Writer

After falling over the weekend to George Washington 15-7, the women’s lacrosse team recorded its first victory of the season on Monday, beating Presbyterian 21-8. With the split, the Orange and Blue took their record to 1-5 on the season.

During the victory, the team’s offensive effort was led by Emily Kookogey ’15 who scored a career-high five goals and two assists, while Katelyn Miller ’14 also played a massive role, contributing four goals, four assists and eight draw controls.

“We put together everything we learned from the past few games and came out strong on Monday,” Miller said. “Our high pressure defense caused a lot of turnovers and our attack had multiple people scoring, so everyone was a threat.”

Other major contributors players included Madison Hurwitz ’13 with four goals and three assists, Sophie Kleinert ’14 with three goals, Arriana Sajjad ’15 with a goal and two assists, and Ryan Wenk ’13 with two goals. Lindsay Ferro ’14 also tallied a goal and four assists, bringing her to seven handouts in the last two games.

After the Presbyterian Blue Hose scored a pair of goals just 2:21 into the game, the Bison tied it up quickly off two goals by Miller and Wenk. From there, the Bison went down 4-2 but finished the half with a 9-1 run and never looked back.

The Bison played extremely well on both sides of the ball all night and great ball movement allowed them to rack up 16 assists on 21 goals. On defense, the Bison held the Blue Hose to 11 total shots and only eight goals, a massive achievement considering Presbyterian had scored 35 goals over its last two games. The defense also held the Blue Hose to 9-for-22 on clears and forced 30 turnovers. Andrea Feldman ’14 and Alex Wallace ’15 each recorded four ground balls apiece, while Adrienne Wendling ’13 also had a great game with four draw controls, two caused turnovers, two ground balls and an assist.

Against George Washington, the team dropped a tough match, but Sajjad and Kookogey had stellar performances, scoring two goals apiece. Kleinert and Wenk also scored goals for the Bison along with Blair McDonald ’15 who scored her first career goal. 

The Bison were down 2-0 early in the game but cut the lead to one before the Colonials went on a 4-0 run. The Bison rallied and went on a 3-1 run but could not withstand George Washington’s offensive onslaught as they distanced themselves even further after the half and eventually emerged with a 15-7 victory. 

One problem that the Bison defense faced was their ability to clear the ball. They ended the day clearing only 12-of-25, while the Colonials were 15-for-17. Despite such difficulties, the Bison defense had reason for hope. Midfielder Miller caused six forced turnovers, tying the school record, and goalie Katherine Fraile ’14 had her first career start, tallying 10 saves.

With their first win under their belt, the Bison look ahead to their first Patriot League matchup of the year this weekend against Navy.

“I think this game made everyone realize our true potential as a team and as individual players,” Feldman said. “We really needed this win going into our first Patriot League game this weekend against Navy. I’m confident that we will do our best and give them a good game.”