Senior midfielder Lauren Dougher scored six goals and added an assist as the women's lacrosse team opened the 2006 season with a 15-5 win over previously undefeated St. Mary's College.
As the defending Division III No.1 ranked team in preseason polls, the Lions opened the match with four goals in the first 6:14 of play and never lost the lead.
"No matter what we're ranked we always want to win as many games as we can," Dougher said.
Dougher, the 2005 NCAA Division III Midfielder of the Year, now has 176 career goals, 61 assists and 237 career points after adding 102 points last year.
Midway through the first half, freshman midfielder Lauren Carrier of St. Mary's cut the margin to 4-2 with back-to-back goals, but the Lions responded with three of the final four goals in the half with senior midfielder Bridget Bigley scoring a pair, for a 7-3 halftime lead.
The Lions opened the second half with a free position goal from Dougher five minutes into the half for an 8-3 lead. The Seahawks of St. Mary's made it an 8-4 match with an unassisted goal from senior midfielder Allyson Sarigianis.
The Seahawks would eventually score two more goals but not until the Lions racked up seven goals in the final 10 minutes to finish the match with a 15-5 victory.
"I think we played well," head coach Sharon Pfluger said. "I was happy that we got stronger as the game went on ... it was very competitive at the beginning. We had to fight hard. I think the girls kept their composure very well in situations when the game was getting physically rough."
Dougher led the College with her six goals and one assist while Bigley added four goals and an assist as well. Sophomores Toni-Anne Cavallo and Kate Neese added a pair each in the victory over St. Mary's.
Senior goalkeeper Megan Marquardt earned the win in net for the Lions with nine saves against 16 shots with just five goals against. Junior Melissa Puzak took the loss for St. Mary's with nine saves against 30 total shots.
"It was a really good team effort and everyone contributed," Dougher said. "I'm just glad we got the win today."
The Lions' next match will be held today at Lion's Stadium against Ursinus College. Then they take on SUNY Cortland for a 1 p.m. matchup on March 26.
