Photo: Wilmington University/Christopher J. Vitale
The Wilmington University women’s lacrosse team opened up their season on Wednesday by showing off their offensive firepower as they defeated the Barton College Bulldogs 17-5 at the WU Athletics Complex.
Two Wildcats earned a hat trick in the game and they were redshirt senior midfielder Lashay Ross (5) and sophomore attacker Maddie Day (7).
Along with five goals, Ross had three assists, eight shots, seven shots at the goal, five ground balls, four draw controls, and two turnovers.
Along with seven goals, Day had eight shots, eight shots at the goal, one ground ball, and one turnover.
Four other Wilmington players scored goals in the game which were junior attacker Taylor Lambeth (1), junior midfielder Maris Allen (2), junior attacker Alexis Miller (1), and redshirt junior attacker Delaney Steele (1).
Seven Wildcats picked up multiple ground balls in the win and they were Lambeth (2), Ross (5), Miller (2), junior midfielder Brooke Siebert (3), sophomore defender Jacqulyn Falkenstein (3), freshman midfielder/defender Marisa Swanson (2) and sophomore goalkeeper Tori Grubowski (5).
Siebert also had 11 draw controls in the Wildcats’ win.
Goalkeeper Tori Grubowski allowed five goals, and 15 shots, had 10 saves, and earned the win in 60 minutes of play.
Wildcats Pour On The Goals In The First Period
Wilmington would score 11 goals in the first period of this game but the first goal would come after five minutes ticked off the clock. The Wildcats’ first goal would come from Alexis Miller who would be assisted by Lashay Ross on the score.
Around the 24:41 minute mark, there was a foul called on Barton which set up a free position shot for Wilmington which Delaney Steele fired a strike right in the net to give her team a 2-0 lead.
Wilmington’s third consecutive goal would come about a minute later when Maris Allen would find the net to give the team a 3-0 lead. Taylor Lambeth assisted Allen’s goal.
The Wildcats’ fourth straight goal would come from Maddie Day who would score on a man-up goal and be assisted by Ross on the score.
Not even a minute later, Day would come back and score her second goal of the day to push Wilmington’s lead to 5-0. Ross would add the assist on Day’s goal.
After assisting on three goals in the first period, Lashay Ross would finally score a goal of her own at the 19:26 minute mark which gave the team a 6-0 lead.
It took a while but after 14 minutes of silence on the scoreboard, Barton would finally score a goal as Angelina Scarpa was the one to put them on the board. Jordan Hare assisted on Scarpa’s first goal of the game.
At the 13:45 minute mark, Day would score her third goal of the game as Brooke Siebert would assist on the score which would push Wilmington’s lead to 7-1.
Barton’s goalkeeper Katherine Mattena would grab an incoming shot from Wilmington which led to a score by the Bulldogs’ Angelina Scarpa to decrease the Wildcats’ lead to 7-2 with 12:46 left in the period.
Wilmington’s next score started with Tori Grubowski picking up the ground ball which would lead to a score from Lashay Ross which extended her team’s lead to 8-2 with 10:24 left in the first. Delaney Steele would assist with Ross’s second goal of the game.
The next scoring drive for the Wildcats would be set up by a Barton turnover which would be caused by Steele. At the 7:52 minute mark, Ross would score her third goal of the game which increased Wilmington’s lead to 9-2.
The Wildcats’ third straight goal in a matter of minutes came from a free position attempt which would also be a man-up situation. Maris Allen would sink the free position attempt to get her second goal of the game and put the Wildcats up 10-2 with 6:30 left in the period.
Wilmington’s 11th goal of the game would come from Taylor Lambeth hitting a free position attempt to give the team a 11-2 lead at the half.
No Stopping WilmU’s Fire Power
After scoring 11 goals in the first period, one would think Wilmington would slow down in the scoring but that did not happen. The Wildcats added six more goals to their already comfortable lead.
The first goal of the second half would come from the Bulldog’s Samantha Diaz which would decrease Wilmington’s lead to 11-3 with 27:40 left in the game.
Barton would score their second consecutive goal on Wilmington as Ashley Teilborg would make it an 11-4 game with 25:18 left in the second period.
A minute later, the Wildcats would halt the momentum of Barton as Lashay Ross would find the net for the fourth time in this game and also give the team a 12-4 lead.
The next WilmU scoring drive would start with a ground ball pickup by Alexis Miller and then Barton would fail to clear the ball. The next play would be a Maddie Day goal which would be her fourth of the game. Day was assisted on the goal by Delaney Steele. The goal would give Wilmington a 13-4 lead with 22:24 left in the game.
The tag team of Day and Steele would strike again at the 21:38 minute mark, as Maddie Day would score her fifth goal of the game and Delaney Steele added the assist to the score.
Wilmington’s next scoring drive started with Maris Allen winning control of the draw which led to a Lashay Ross goal which would give the team a 15-4 lead with 20:30 left in the game. Steele would assist Ross on her fifth goal of the game.
Around the 15:38 minute mark, Barton would turn the ball over and the ground ball was picked by Wilmington’s Tori Grubowski. The Wildcats would clear the ball which would lead to Maddie Day finding the net for her sixth goal of the season. Delaney Steele would assist on that score which increased WilmU’s lead to 16-4.
The last goal for Wilmington would come from Day who would score her seventh goal of the game to push the team’s lead to 17-4 with 10:25 left in the game. Taylor Lambeth assisted on Day’s goal.
Barton would score the last goal of the game as Samantha Diaz made a free position attempt which would cut Wilmington’s lead to 17-5.
The Wildcats’ defense did the rest for the final minutes of the game as Tori Grubowski had a couple of saves and the team caused quite a few turnovers to seal a 17-5 win.
Wilmington stays at home to take on Millersville on February 22nd at 1 PM ET.
Team Stats:
Saves: WU 10& BC 12
Turnovers: WU 26 &BC29
Draw Controls: WU 18& BC 5
Shots:WU 35& BC 21
Ground Balls:WU 27& BC22
Clears: WU 14 -25& BC 16 -27
Fouls: WU 12 & BC27
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