AMHERST, Mass. – The
Alex Frank Era started on a high note Saturday afternoon as the No. 22 Dartmouth women's lacrosse team won its 2020 season opener at No. 13 UMass, 15-11.
Under the first-year head coach, the Big Green (1-0) used a four-goal second-half run to down the Minutewomen (1-1) by that same margin at a very cold Garber Field, erasing a 7-6 deficit at the half in the process.
Seniors led the way for the visitors as
Ellie Carson scored five times and finished with a career-high six points, while
Sophia Turchetta netted four markers and added an assist for a five-point afternoon to match her best single-game output.
"It was an awesome team win," Frank said. "We did a great job preparing all week long and the players stuck to the game plan and executed.
"UMass is a good team and is incredibly gritty. We had to match their intensity the whole game," Frank added. "We learned a lot about ourselves and know we will have to continue to improve as we head into next week and prepare for BU."
A back-and-forth game in the opening half, saw the teams trade goals for much of the first 30 minutes with UMass heading into the intermission up one. Dartmouth would score six of the first seven goals in the second frame to build a lead it would never relinquish, picking up the 25th victory in season openers in 48 years of Big Green women's lacrosse.
Veta Mayer added two goals and tied
Katie Bourque for the team lead with four draw controls. Bourque would dish out a pair of assists in the game as well.
Claire Marshall,
Adrie Luster and
Sarah Ross all scored their first goals of the season and the third of their respective careers. First-year midfielder
Katie Elders notched the first goal of her collegiate career as she made her Dartmouth debut in the win.
Senior
Kiera Vrindten was the anchor of the defense, stopping 12 shots, doubling the output of her counterpart in Minutewomen keeper Lauren Hiller. Vrindten had a team-high five ground balls.
A major key in the win was the visitors going 5-for-5 on the free-position shot, while UMass was held without a goal on the shot in just one attempt.
Dartmouth returns to Hanover for the 2020 season opener next Saturday (Feb. 22) at 3 p.m. against Boston University.