BY LEXI LOBDELL ’20
The Mount Holyoke lacrosse team opened their season with a decisive win over Gordon College, 16-8. The Lyons offensive depth was evident, with nine different athletes scoring.
The team came out hungry, taking a 12-7 lead in the opening half. The Lyons took advantage of the Fighting Scot’s relaxed defense, and the resulting goals from Leila Kouakou ’18, Kaitlin Braz ’18, Reina Torrez-Miner ’20, Mazzie Meotti ’19 and Deyscha Smith ’19 earned the Lyons a score of 8-3 after just 15 minutes of play.
Gordon fired in two back-to-back goals closing in 5-8. But four consecutive goals from the Lyons stumped Gordon’s short lived run, 12-5 Lyons. Gordon earned the last two points of the half, coming within five points of the Lyons.
Smith opened the second half with her fifth goal of the game in less than four minutes of play. Haley Subocz ’19 fired in another goal for the Lyons to double Gordon’s score, 14-7. Gordon’s Olivia McCarrick earned the Fighting Scot’s final goal of the game. Smith lead the team to victory with a career-high five goals and one assist. Braz and Morgan McNamara ’19 wrapped up the game for the Lyons, each finding the back of the goal to end the game 16-8.
“We are excited to have a win under our belt and get the season going on a high note,” said Head Coach Miriam Esber. “We had contributions from many different players at all positions, and it was a good start. However, next practice it’s back to the grindstone and this win is in the past — we will just be looking forward towards what we need to work on for our next competitions. One day at a time.”
Braz emphasized what this win means for the team moving forward: “Our win against Gordon was a tremendous confidence boost heading into this season. Knowing our defensive and goalie units have the strength to hold off a strong offense, and that our attack has the depth of nine scorers, has left us with the best mindset heading into our next game.”
Moving forward with the rest of the season, Kouakou underscored the importance of goal setting. “Our ultimate goal is to make it to the NEWMAC tournament,” said Kouakou, “but this season we have been talking a lot about smaller, more measurable milestones that we can achieve in order to reach our final goal. Improving team cohesion is a major factor in our quality of play and is one of our goals for the year. We have already seen a significant improvement from last year and I’m very optimistic that we will continue to grow stronger and reach all of our goals.”
“We really want to take risks and challenge our competitors for every single loose ball,” said Esber. “We want to see improvement from last year’s record, get to the NEWMAC tournament and to win games once we are there.”
The Lyons return to the field Saturday, March 3 at Bridgewater State University.