The women’s lacrosse team played its first home game of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating SUNY Geneseo 11-5.
The game was the long-awaited home opener for the Yellowjackets. In the past two weeks, three games were canceled due to inclement weather.
Although the team had a long break between their two games, “the extra time gave us a chance to work on a few areas that the Colorado game [a 9-8 win in St. Petersburg, Fla.] showed we needed to improve on,” said senior captain Jennifer Seferiadis.
“Having some games cancelled means having to get re-psyched again and again, which can be quite exhausting,” said senior captain Lauren Mele.
Despite only playing one game all season, the Yellowjackets came off to a fast start scoring minutes into the first half, and more goals soon followed to put the Yellowjackets ahead 4-0.
Geneseo answered back with three goals of its own, but UR held on to finish the first half up 5-3. Geneseo came out strong in the second half, scoring two quick goals to tie the score at 5.
“During the middle of the game, we weren’t finishing our chances on offense, and we just could not put the ball into the net,” Mele said.
The Yellowjackets got caught off guard by how strong Geneseo came out in the second half, but they quickly gained their composure and were able to break a 6-6 tie to take the game.
“When Geneseo started scoring a few goals and getting themselves back into the game we realized what we had to do to win, and finally gained our composure and started playing smart lacrosse,” Seferiadis said.
The Yellowjackets then went on a 5-0 run with goals by senior Jenny Rogers, three goals by senior Jessica Lerman, and a goal by Katie Riegel in the late half to give the Yellow-jackets the victory with a score of 11-6.
Sophomore goaltender Stephanie Bristol made 12 key saves in her second start to help the team pick up their second win of the season.
“What became a close game ended up looking like an easy win at the end,” Mele said. “I think we realized that we needed to really step it up, and utilize all the skills we have, work together and make it happen.”
The game against Geneseo was an important win for the Yellowjackets after a long break between games, and signs of their lack of game experience came through, but they were able to regroup and pull off a convincing win.
“We can’t afford not to play an entire game of good lacrosse when we go up against some of the stronger teams in our league. You can’t afford to make mental mistakes,” Seferiadis said.
“We have an incredible amount of depth on this team, and every person is entirely committed to doing whatever they can to make themselves better and the team better.”
Senior Jessica Lerman led UR with three goals. Seniors Jenny Rogers and Erica Bergstrom and sophomore Katie Riegel scored two goals each, and seniors Jennifer Seferiadis and Lauren Mele picked up one goal apiece.
The Yellow-jackets will hopefully be back on schedule with plenty of games to play. On Tuesday, UR defeated rival Ithaca College 7-6 after trailing 5-1.
Riegel and her sister Emily, a freshman, each scored twice to help UR improve to 3-0. Bristol made a career high 17 saves.
UR now go on the road this weekend to face Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, and Vasser College.
