CASLETON, Vt. – Senior attacker Sarah Lachance recorded a team-best seven points on Tuesday evening to surpass Rebecca Wickens '14 as the program's all-time points leader and guided the Rivier women's lacrosse team to a 14-9 victory over VTSU Castleton at Dave Wolk Stadium. Lachance has recorded 252 points over 46 games played.
With the victory, the Raiders secured their first win of the season and improved to 1-1, while the Spartans dropped to 1-2.
The Raiders capitalized on an early yellow card and man-up opportunity as sophomore Sofia Cebrero riffled a shot into the net to put Rivier ahead 1-0 at the 12:46 mark of the first quarter. The Spartans responded with a man-down goal, followed by an even-strength tally just 90 seconds later, to take their first lead of the game at 2-1. Lachance then answered with back-to-back man-up free-position goals to reclaim the lead for the Raiders at 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Castleton wasted no time in the second quarter, netting the equalizer just 30 seconds in. Lachance responded by completing her hat trick at the 12:26 mark, reclaiming the lead at 4-3. The teams continued to trade goals throughout the remainder of the half, with first-year Ashlynn Ledoux striking twice to send the game into halftime deadlocked at 6-6.
The Spartans struck first in the second half with an early goal, but the Raiders responded with three unanswered tallies as Lachance scored twice and Cebrero added one to take a 9-7 lead into the final quarter. The momentum carried over as Ledoux found the back of the net just 10 seconds into the fourth, securing her first collegiate hat trick. Lachance added her sixth goal of the game, and senior Chiara Skeels notched her first goal of the season to extend the Raiders' lead to 12-7 with 10:03 remaining. First-year Brooke Carter kept the surge going by netting her first collegiate goal just a minute later. Castleton managed to halt the run briefly before Ledoux struck again for her fourth goal of the game to seal the 14-9 victory.
Lachance led the team with six points while also collecting 13 draw controls and four ground balls. Ledoux followed with six points and two ground balls, while Cebrero contributed two points along with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior Cassie Hemmerdinger tallied two assists and led the team with five caused turnovers. Senior goalie Kylie Coupal made seven saves in the contest and recorded a team-high five ground balls.
The Raiders outshot the Spartans, 24-20, and won the draw count, 17-8. Additionally, Rivier converted 6-of-9 (66.7%) of their free position attempts compared to Castleton's 3-of-7 (42.8%).
The Raiders are set to open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on the road against Anna Maria on Saturday, March 8. The opening draw at Caparso Field is scheduled for noon.
