Women’s lacrosse is victorious on spring break trip in a 16-0 shutout of Emmanuel

The Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team had a big win on their spring break trip on Sunday, Mar. 5. This year the Mules migrated south to play Emmanuel College, winning the contest 16-0. The shutout victory for the women puts their record at 2-1 for the season and they are now on a two-game winning streak. Throughout the last two games, the Mules have been on fire by outscoring their opponents 36-5.

The win against Emmanuel was at a neutral site in Hilton Head, S.C. This is the third year in a row that the team has traveled to Hilton Head for non-conference games over spring break. Co-captain Nora Fisher ‘17 has been a part of all three of the trips. “Each year is different, but still just as fun and rewarding,” Fisher said. “It was nice to have practices, our game, and runs in such nice weather too.”

Fisher was one of 13 Mules to score in the shutout. She was one of three players to have a multi-goal game as well. Spreading the wealth on offense will hopefully translate to a deep offensive threat for Muhlenberg that will be hard for opposing defenses to stop.

“We had so many different girls score in the game, which was really fun to watch, especially since for some it was their first collegiate goal,” Fisher explained. Three freshmen and two sophomores came off the bench to add six goals to the scoreboard.

Fisher also was excited to see that a lot of the offensive strategies the team had been working on in practice had paid off. Five Mules combined for 10 assists, as co-captain Kelsey Nagle ‘17 had a team high with four assists. Nagle also led the team in points with five total.

Defensively, Muhlenberg caused five turnovers, all by different players. Fisher was as impressed with the team’s defensive play as she was with the offensive.

“In terms of our defense, it was really great to see such positive communication and different girls working their hardest to not let the ball get close to our goalie,” said Fisher.

Three goalkeepers combined for the shutout against Emmanuel. Co-captain Sara Allison ‘17 started the game and got the win while Jordan Segrave ‘20 and Alex Grossman ‘18 both tallied over ten minutes of play during the game. Neither of the three goalies were forced to make any saves due to the strength of the Mules’ defensive line.

Looking forward, the Mules have their work cut out for them if they are to reach the goals they set for the season. They have some tough competition and big games coming up as well. Muhlenberg was supposed to face off against the Red Hawks from Montclair State University, but because of the poor weather and snow covering the Frank Marino Field, that game has been postponed to a later date.

Fisher believes facing tough opponents like the Red Hawks will help prepare the team for some of the tougher Centennial Conference games that lie ahead. “They’ve always been great competition for us, and last year was the first time we beat them since I’ve been here, and it was a huge accomplishment,” said Fisher. Other conference games Fisher looks forward to are against rivals like Haverford, McDaniel, Swarthmore and Dickinson. “[These are] teams that are beatable, and we have beat them before, but some of the results in the past few years haven’t been in our favor,” Fisher explained.

If no further games are moved because of the weather, the Mules will open their Centennial Conference schedule at Scotty Wood Stadium against the Bryn Mawr Owls on Saturday, Mar. 25 starting at 12 p.m. after their game against Buffalo State on Thursday, Mar. 23.

Photo courtesy of Muhlenberg Athletics