ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team was all smiles on Saturday afternoon.
The Redhawks connected in every phase of the game and put together a complete effort while defeating the University of the District of Columbia 20-2 in an East Coast Conference game.
"It's definitely a feel-good win," Roberts coach Kristin Paolini said. "I thought that they did everything that we as a coaching staff asked them to do today. We stayed disciplined, stayed focused, grew as a team and grew as individuals and all of that will help us to prepare for our remaining East Coast Conference games."
Fifth-year attack Alexis Grant led the offense with five goals and three assists and sophomore Annie Mulhall contributed six goals and an assist for the Redhawks (7-5, 2-1 ECC), who jumped to an 8-1 lead after the first quarter. Freshman Ella Dossier (two goals, three assists) and graduate student Tori Lammes (1 goal, four assists) each added five points for Roberts while Erin Quinn added our with three goals and an assist.
The good vibes coming from the Redhawk sideline had more to do with the way Roberts played, than the final result.
"Every single day in practice we say that we have what it takes to be successful and today everything clicked," said graduate student Shay DeRoo, led her team with six ground balls and seven caused turnovers. "Some days we struggle with the application part of things, but today we applied everything."
The Redhawks also celebrated several milestones in the game as junior Sophia Podszebka snared eight draw controls to surpass 200 for her career while DeRoo and sophomore Brooke Tangelder registered the first goals of their college careers.
"I think that it is definitely a highlight (of my college career), especially since everybody on offense was encouraging me," said DeRoo, who hadn't scored a goal in a game since middle school.
The contest also marked the emotional return of graduate student Natalie Arieno. Arieno suffered a torn ACL last May and took the field for the first time this season in the second half.
"I was fine until they announced my name, and then it all hit me," Arieno said.
Just 1:18 after entering the game, Arieno stopped the first shot that she faced for her 300^th career save. Fans on the sideline held up a sign to mark the moment and the crowd cheered again when the milestone was announced over the public address system.
"That was really awesome, I was really proud of her," said Lammes, Arieno's former club teammate who is in her first season with the Redhawks. "It was awesome to be on the field when she made her 300^th career save."
Paolini relished the opportunity to stand back and take it all in.
"It's great for the girls to have the opportunity to celebrate with their teammates," Paolini said. "It is really good to see them lifting each other up and being excited for their accomplishments."
Shawna Lesmerises started in goal and made four saves for Roberts while freshman Kadie Tierney turned in a strong effort with a goal and eight draw controls.
The game, Roberts' second straight in the conference, gives the Redhawks a positive foundation to build on heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.
"We just need to continue to believe in ourselves that we can keep growing and put together a full 60 minutes to compete with the top teams in our conference and bring that ECC trophy back to Rochester," Paolini said.
The Redhawks return to action on Saturday, April 15 for a non-conference matchup with Post University.