After a tough first loss for the Lions last week, the team was ready to come back out strong this week and did not disappoint. The Lions kicked off the week with a Wednesday home game against Rutgers-Camden University at 7:30 p.m. Amidst a chilly evening, the team came out strong and tried to put last week’s loss out of their minds.
With 9:48 into the game, sophomore forward Korrie Harkins scored the first goal for the team, assisted by senior defender Brenna Rubino. From there, the goals just kept on coming. The next two were scored by freshman forward Kendel Bernardini with assists from freshman middle Shannon White and junior forward Katie Lindacher. This was the first time Bernardini scored for the team.
The Scarlet Raptors then scored with 13:42 remaining in the first half and made the score 3-1. The last two goals for the Lions came from freshman middle Carly Setaro and senior forward Allyson Anderson. This was also Setaro’s first game in which she scored as a Lion.
Junior midfielder Sloan DePiero and senior forward Katie Landrigan both played a strong game, each with five shots. The Lions accumulated a total of 16 shots on goal throughout the game. The team won the game 5-1.
With another win under their belts, the team felt that they were definitely back in the swing of things. The first loss is always a tough one to muster, but they came back as if nothing had happened to them. If anything, it made them play even better.
“The first loss was tough for us because we deserved more out of the game even though we didn’t play to our full potential,” junior forward Katie Lindacher said. “Going into this week we really focused at practice. We were really motivated to not let up any more goals because that’s not what we are about. We are taking one game at a time and playing each game like it is the championship game.”
The next game of the week came on Saturday night at Rutgers-Newark University. With 23:36 into the first half of the game, the Lions scored their first goal.
Freshman midfielder Taylor Lusardi scored for the first time as a member of the team and set the Lions up 1-0. Lindacher proceeded to score again four minutes later. In the second half, senior forward Allyson Anderson and Bernardini both scored goals to boost the score to 4-0. The last goal came as the first for freshman forward Justine Larocca assisted by freshman middle Emma Culleton.
The Lions had a total of 12 shots on goal with many shots from sophomore forward Jordan Downs and senior midfielder Amy Van Dyk.
The 5-0 shutout came thanks to the determination of sophomore goalies Kendra Griffith and Cristina Gracos.
This win propelled the Lions to a record of 4-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and an overall record of 9-1.
The team feels hopeful that this is the kind of play they will be aiming for for the rest of the season.
“We feel strong going into this week though,” DePiero said confidently. “We have some really tough teams coming up and we’re ready to be put to the test. The team has been clicking very well on the field and we are gaining our confidence each game.”
This coming week, the Lions hit the road on Wednesday and head to Gettysburg College for a 4 p.m. game and continue their outstanding season home against William Paterson at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
