No. 1 Women’s Lacrosse Makes it Seven Straight

By Thomas Scavetta
Staff Writer

As the top-ranked Pioneers traveled their way back up the East coast, they stopped in Philadelphia, P.A., where they beat up on Holy Family with a 22-2 victory on Saturday, March 15. After a 1-1 tie 10 min- utes in, the Pioneers went on a 13-1 run to take a commanding 14-2 lead at halftime. Senior attacker Morgan Chiarenzza led the burst tallying (2 G, 2 A).

In the second half, the Pioneers (6-0) shut out the Tigers (0-3) by an 8-0 run to close out the game. Senior attacker Jackie Sileo tied
her career-high, scoring 13 points, leading the charge for the green and gold. Freshman attacker Stefani Vagelatos, red-shirt sophomore at- tacker Alexis Newman, and senior attacker/midfielder Samantha Losco all scored three points. Sophmore defender/midfielder Kaitlin Gaghan also got a piece off the action, tallying up two goals. Junior defender Kali Maxwell forced two turnovers and won an astonishing nine draw con- trols. Senior goalkeeper Katie Hannan made five saves in the pen. The Pioneers played lights-out on both sides of the field, leading to such a dominant showing.

Senior attacker Jackie Sileo mentioned that the team is trying to challenge themselves to do better than the day before. Sileo factored in that her teammates have great timing and do a great job of getting open and cutting full speed to the net, which supplements her great vision be hind the cage. As the Pioneers look to keep their momentum going, they continue to focus on their goal of winning another national champion ship by taking it game-by-game, winning, and moving on. “What hurts more; the pain of hard work or pain of regret?” Sileo said.

Led by Head Coach Meghan McNamara, the Pioneers would return home for an ECC battle with Mercy on Wednesday March 19, at Hickox Field, in Brookville.

The Pioneers struck early and often against Mercy, as seniors Sileo and Rotan teamed up for the first two goals of the game within
the first 2:47. Sileo ended up having (1 G, 4 A) by the 7:10 mark, as the Pioneers blew out Mercy 23-1. Attacker Losco locked up the game-high with 10 points (5 G, 5 A), and fellow attacker Sileo racked up eight points on the day with (3 G, 5 A). Freshman attacker Vagelatos chipped in with five points (3 G, 2 A). Senior Rotan and freshman Cara Douglas were both forces on the field, each recording a hat-trick.

The scoring just kept pouring in for the Pioneers (7-0), as they scored 13 unanswered tallies to shut out the Mavericks (2-5) in the second half. Pioneers senior goalie Katie Hannan picked up four saves between the pipes. Freshman net keepers Shianne Judson and Jillian Rocco combined on nine saves for Mercy. The Pioneers decimated the Mavericks in shots (37-9) and ground balls (25-9), while holding an advantage in draws (16-10) and converting on (7-12) clears.