WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University women's lacrosse team won its "One Love" game, as they downed the visiting Rhode Island College Anchorwomen by a score of 17-6 on a rainy Thursday evening at John Coughlin Memorial Field.
The Lancers were led by Alexis Vecchiarelli (Agawam, Mass.), Sarah Cohan (Lowell, Mass.), and Alaina Martin (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) who each tallied a hat trick in the win. Vecchiarelli and Mackenzie Little (Marlboro, Mass.) marked a game-high three assists on the evening, while Little dominated the team in draws with five.
The foes were led by Tess Bradley (Tiverton, R.I.) who tallied five points on three goals and two assists. Betsy Heidel (Warwick, R.I.) registered two goals, while Katherine Gould (Harrisville, R.I.) chipped in one for the Anchorwomen.
Worcester State University commenced the game with a 6-0 run on goals from Little, Martin, Angelina Sutherland (Tyngsboro, Mass.), and Vecchiarelli. The Anchorwomen broke the Lancers' run 13 minutes in when Heidel sliced the ball past Worcester State's goaltender, Krissy Pessa (Walpole, Mass.), to put the score at 6-1.
Following RIC's first goal of the contest, Worcester State tacked on three additional goals from Sutherland, Kylie Farrell (Sutton, Mass.) and Erin Haltam (Medina, Ohio) to advance the score to 9-1. RIC's Bradley slithered another past Pessa before Worcester State's Cohan scored three back-to-back goals – her first collegiate goals - to reach a 10-goal gain (12-2).
RIC saw their lone run of the game with 5:44 remaining in the first half, as they matched Cohan's three goals to put the score at 12-5. Despite the effort from RIC, Worcester State ended the half with four goals of their own to go into the intermission ahead 16-5.
With running clock in the second half of the game, Worcester State possessed the ball for the majority of the stanza. They held the foes to just one goal in the second with 31 seconds remaining in the game to conclude the match with a score of 17-6 in their favor.
Throughout the contest, Worcester State outshot the Anchorwomen 30-12 (5-4 in the second half), and held the advantage in draws (16-6) and ground balls (15-9). Worcester State was able to convert 1-of-3 free positions shots, while RIC went 0-for-2.
Earning the win in net was Pessa, who tallied three saves in the 60 minutes of play. Suffering the loss for the Anchorwomen was Julia Eaton (Cumberland, R.I.) who marked an 8-save performance on the night.
Next up, the Lancers travel to Mass. Maritime on Saturday (Apr. 8) for a 7 p.m. MASCAC tilt. The Anchorwomen return to action on the same date as they host Keene State at 1 p.m.
The "One Love" game was a game dedicated to Yeardley Love, who at the time, was a senior lacrosse player at the University of Virginia and was killed by her ex-boyfriend in an act of domestic violence. The foundation was created in honor of her, and to raise awareness about relationship violence.
The women's lacrosse team tracked their "Yards for Yeardley" and reached their goal of a million yards per person. Both Worcester State and RIC took part in a halftime walk around the track with the community to add to the yardage and show their support for the cause.