After a down season last year in which they went 6-11, the women’s lacrosse team bounced back in a major way and made a statement in their first game.

The Leopards took on the Longwood Lancers in the 2017 home opener at Fisher Field. Lafayette coasted to victory, handling the Lancers in a dominant fashion.

The game was pretty tight for the first ten minutes, but after an eight-goal run by the Leopards the game was all but finished. The score at the end of the first half was 12-2. In the second half, the Leopards continued their dominance, only allowing one goal while scoring six of their own en route to an 18-3 victory.

Although it’s usually the upperclassmen that are leading the Leopards, the sophomores were the ones carrying the team on Saturday, scoring 15 of the 18 goals. Sophomores Jane Kirby, Emma Novick and Mairead Janzer each had four goals, while sophomores Hannah Davey and Kayla Guerin added two and one of their own, respectively. Janzer, even more impressively, only took five shots to score her four goals. Seniors Charlotte Rath and Kirsten Wilhelmsen, the usual suspects, each added a goal apiece. Freshman Emily Wingate, in her first collegiate game, notched her first career goal. Senior Amanda Case led the team with two assists.

The Leopards were dominant the entire game. They outshot the Lancers by an outstanding margin of 43-7, while only allowing them to have successful clears on eight of their 24 attempts. The Leopards also forced 30 turnovers, while only having 14 of their own – and they controlled the ball for most of the game.

Sophomore Allie Abacherli and junior Anna Raymond split the goaltending duties, with Abacherli making one save in the first half and Raymond grabbing a couple in the second. It looks like coach Alison Fisher will continue to stick with the tandem of Abacherli and Raymond that she used a lot last season.