WEST HAVEN, Conn. – With a pair of hat tricks from its leading scorers, the New Haven women's lacrosse team continued its season-opening win streak with a home-opening win over the visiting Jefferson Rams 15-7 on Saturday at Kathy Zolad Stadium. With the win, New Haven improves to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference.
New Haven got on the board early, with three goals in the first 4:13, and never looked back against the Rams. Junior Ivanna Hernandez (Bay Shore, N.Y./Brentwood) scored the first goal of the afternoon for the Chargers and added one more in the first quarter, a player-up opportunity, as the Chargers took a 7-2 lead into the first intermission. After playing the middle two quarters evenly, the Chargers held Jefferson scoreless in the final 15 minutes, while scoring four goals of their own to put the game out of reach.
Leading New Haven's offense on the afternoon was the Chargers leading scorer, sophomore Raegan Bailey (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and graduate transfer Savannah Ernst (American Fork, Utah/American Fork) who each finished with a hat trick, part of four players who contributed multiple goals. Joining them was Hernandez and freshman Marielle Colalillo (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) who each finished with a pair.
Bailey also added an assist to her credit for four points, while freshman Caitlin Seleny (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton) led the Chargers with four helpers to go along with one goal for a team-high five points. Also joining in with three points on the day was Colalillo who added one assist to her two goals and sophomore midfielder Gianna Caprioli (Clinton Corners, N.Y./Franklin Delano Roosevelt) who finished with a goal and a pair of assists.
Overall, nine different Chargers got in on the Chargers scoring. As a team, New Haven finished the game with 35 shots, marking 24 of those on goal which forced the Rams goalkeeper Melanie Goldstein to make nine stops. On the opposite side of the field, Chargers netminder Gabby Buscemi (East Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) finished the afternoon with 12 saves, her second game this season with double digit stops.
The next time that New Haven takes the field will come in the Sunshine State as they will travel to Florida for a pair of games against Lynn University and Rollins College. First up on the docket will be Lynn on Wednesday, March 15 with opening draw set for 4:00 p.m. at Bobby Campbell Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.
