CHICOPEE, Mass. – Senior Alexandrea Banks (Ellington, Conn.) scored five goals and assisted on another while scooping up eight ground balls to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team to a 15-9 season-opening win over Elms.
The win was the first for rookie head coach Jessie Koffman and also marked the first time in the three seasons the Leopards have had a varsity program that the Black & Gold has started the season with a win. Elms falls to 0-3 with the loss.
Both teams exchanged goals through the first half, finishing the frame knotted at 5-all. Banks factored in three of the five goals, scoring twice and assisting on a third. Classmate Jessica Houghton (Billerica, Mass.) scored twice, and senior Pam Mudge (Hooksett, N.H.) also found the back of the net, giving the Leopards a brief lead late in the half.
The teams continued to match goal-for-goal with Elms knotting the score at seven-all with 19:04 remaining. From there, Wentworth would score the next four with Banks scoring twice, sophomore Molly Dufresne (Plaistow, N.H.), and Mudge providing the offense.
After nearly eight minutes of neither team scoring, the Leopards used a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 15-8 with 44 ticks left. Dufresne scored twice and sophomore Brandie Holland (Lynn, Mass.) and Houghton scored once each.
Dufresne finished with three goals and an assist while Houghton tallied three times. Mudge finished with two goals and two assists and Holland had a pair of markers. Houghton and Dufresne had five and four draw controls, respectively.
Senior Robyn Pacini (Stoneham, Mass.) picked up the win, making eight saves in the final 30 minutes of play. Junior Hayley Patton (Cranston, R.I.) started the game for Wentworth and made six saves in the first half. Shots were even at 31-all while the Leopards had a 36-32 advantage in ground balls and a 14-11 edge in draw controls.
Wentworth is at Wheelock on Thursday.
