The women?s lacrosse team faced two tough opponents this weekend ? Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Vassar College ? but walked away with two convincing victories. The Yellowjack-ets improved their record to 4-1 with a score of 16-4 against RPI and 11-7 against Vassar.
RPI was the first Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association team that the Yellowjackets faced this season.UR stepped up the offense with 45 shots on goal compared to only 15 by RPI.
Seven different players picked up at least a goal in the winning effort. ?This is a really great sign,? junior attacker and co-captain Jenny Rogers said.
?It shows the depth of our scoring, we make it difficult for other teams to shut us down because they have to cover many players.?
RPI was undefeated in conference play until the game with UR.
Scorers who pitched in were junior attacker Jessica Lerman with four goals and one assist and junior attacker Sarah Hansinger with three goals and one assist. Freshman attacker Katie Riegel and junior attacker Erika Bergstrom were also a strong offensive duo, with two goals and five assists and two goals and one assist, respectively.
The team then played at home the following day against Vassar and kept up the momentum from the RPI game with a 11-7 victory.
The RPI and Vassar games were the first back-to-back games of the season.Although the team won its second game, ?it was a challenging turn around to play a match on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and then return Saturday for an 11:30 a.m. game,? coach Andrea Golden said.
?The weekend proved to be a bit of a challenge conditioning-wise, but was definitely helpful in preparation for the rest of April in which we have two games every weekend,? Rogers said.
Despite the short amount of time in between the two games, UR picked up its offense and defense in a total team effort.
Lerman led the team in offense with three goals, one assist, while Bergstrom again picked up two goals. Riegel and sophomore attacker Delphine Robotham each added a goal.
Golden used the Vassar game as a way for freshman goalie Stephanie Bristol to get more net time.Senior captain and goalie Arna Berke-Schlessel and Bris-tol have used the season to ?work together in an open learning environment, giving each other support and advice,? Berke-Schlessel said.
Bristol has taken advantage of having a senior goalie on the team and turns to her for advice in the net. ?We keep each other on our toes,? Bristol said. Bristol has already seen her game develop under Golden and the leadership of Berke-Schlessel.
This year?s freshman class is already proving to be a strong pool of talented players both defensively and offensively.
Riegel has stepped up to become an offensive threat to other teams.Only five games into the season, Riegel has 13 goals and 10 assists.
?I think that the team has a lot of potential, and I am glad that I get to play with all of them,? Riegel said.
The team has a busy travel weekend ahead, starting Friday at Clarkson University and traveling to St. Lawrence University Saturday.
