Women’s lacrosse wins third consecutive conference match
The St. Joe’s women’s lacrosse team capped off a victorious weekend on April 15 as they followed up a 20-6 win over St. Bonaventure University on April 13 with a 15-4 victory over Duquesne University on a frigid day on Hawk Hill. The day also saw junior midfielder Rebecca Lane score her 100th career goal.
“I think honestly this week was really good for us,” Lane said. “We got a lot of flow and momentum back. We’ve been playing very aggressively, very intensely, and I think it’s only going to continue progressing from here.”
The Hawks struck first with a goal from junior midfielder Hayley Sabol before Duquesne answered just a few minutes later to knot the game at one. St. Joe’s then went on a tear, scoring six straight goals before the end of the first half to take the lead 7-1. Three of those goals came off of Lane’s stick, who had a first half hat trick with her second goal getting her to the milestone.
“People were saying it to me a lot, but it didn’t really register,” Lane said about approaching her 100th goal. “When I shot that goal, I didn’t know that was the one, but all the attackers were coming up and congratulating me. It was pretty exciting.”
Lane reaches the milestone as a junior, scoring her 100 goals in only 45 games. She is one of only three Hawks to accomplish this before the beginning of her senior season and is one of eight to become part of the 100 goal club at St. Joe’s.
The Hawks went on to outscore the Dukes 8-3 in the second half behind stellar performances from junior midfielder Sinead Brierly and junior attackFrancesca Donato. Donato also scored a hat trick while Brierly added a game high four goals.
“The thing I’m most proud about today is that it was a full team effort,” head coach Alex Kahoe said. “Wins like this help with team energy, they help get momentum. We’re feeling pretty good, we’re in the middle of A-10’s and we’re hoping a win like this can propel us forward.”
The team has three more regular season games left before the conference tournament begins May 3. They are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic 10, with the top six teams making it to the conference tournament.
“We have to focus on not letting up,” Lane said. “We’ve worked so hard this week to get our momentum back and being able to maintain that and be consistent. It’s important to not take steps back but keep moving forward.”
For Lane, she is not only focused on continual improvement in the next few weeks, but also in the record books.
“For the freshman and sophomores on the team now, I want them to break all the records people before us have set and it would be great to see people in the future set their own records,” Lane said.
Kahoe glowed with pride as she spoke about Lane and what her achievements mean for the program.
“I’m so excited for her,” Kahoe said. “There’s been so much hard work that she’s put in and I think it is a testament to that as well as to her teammates and how well they worked together to help her reach that 100.”
Lane and the Hawks will return to action in a conference matchup against George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on April 20 at 3 p.m.
