Helen Zhang ’15Photo Editor
Last Saturday, Smith lacrosse opened their season with a game against the Western New England University Golden Bears.
Smith began the game with a rough start. Western New England took the lead in the first five minutes with a score of six goals to Smith’s one goal by junior Petru Bester. The end of the first period saw the score at 7-16, with another goal by Bester, one goal each by first-years Rachel Silveria and Christina Vara and three goals by Jessica Lillquist ’15.
“I’m so glad to be here supporting Smith College and the lacrosse team, even if we’re losing right now,” said Abeer Khatana ’15 during the break between periods. “I’ll always have faith in them and they’re a great team.”
With Western New England holding on to its lead, Smith entered the second period playing hard for the ball. Defender Angela Schondek ’15 was successful in causing a turnover from Western New England’s Kelsey Armstrong. Lillquist, Silveria, and Jenny Estes ’15 scored another three goals for Smith, but the Western New England University Golden Bears unfortunately prevailed, winning the game 20-10.
Game highlights included goalkeeper Savannah Lawson’s ’15 nine saves from 20 attempted shots. Lawson also played the entire hour while Western New England split the time between its two goalkeepers.
“Despite the score, there were a lot of positives that came out of that game,” said Coach Jen Nardi. “As a young team, we’re going to have some growing pains early on, but I’m proud of the effort that the team put in today. We just have to learn from this game and move on.”
Assistant Coach Kaillie Briscoe expressed similar sentiments.
“It’s a good starting point and gave us a chance to see what we need to work on and where we need to go from here,” she said. “We saw a lot of good fight and we’re looking forward to the next game.”
The last nine games between Western New England and Smith have been won by Western New England, the most recent game ending with an 18-14 win by the Golden Bears. They now stand at 3-0 while the Pioneers stand at 0-1.
“The team definitely has a lot of potential,” said Stefanie Cervantes ’13. “I can’t wait to see their future games.”
