Senior day success: Women's lax tied for number one seed

The Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team hosted Centennial Conference rival Dickinson on Apr. 22 in the team’s last Saturday home game. This conference matchup had a little more meaning for the Mules, who also celebrated senior day and had the opportunity to end the day with a shared first place in the Centennial standings.

Scoring started early for the Mules, who jumped out to a quick advantage scoring the first four goals of the match, all by different players. The first came from the stick of Kelsey Nagle ’17, who netted her first of three goals just 90 seconds into the match. The Dickinson Red Devils answered back, shaking off the Mules’ lead and gaining a lead of their own. The next five goals were scored by Dickinson and were all unassisted.

The Mules answered back and this time their lead was unreachable for the Red Devils. The scoring drive was started by two goals by two different players with about three minutes left in the first half. The goals by Amanda Tullo ‘19 and Stephanie D’Ascoli ‘17 were scored just 12 seconds apart and gave the Mules a slight 6-5 lead going into halftime.

The second half was all Muhlenberg continuing their goal streak to make their lead 11-5 in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The string of second half goals included Tullo’s second of the game, along with some hat tricks from Jordy Bonvini ’18, who scored the eighth, ninth and tenth goals of the match to bring her season total up to a team high of 55 goals. D’Ascoli scored the eleventh goal for the Mules, picking up goal number 25 on the season. To finish off the big win, the Mules tallied on four more goals to achieve a 15-7 victory. Along with Bonvini, Tullo and Nagle finished the game with a hat trick each.

The Mules, now 6-1 in conference play and 12-2 overall as of Apr. 22, have one game remaining on their schedule. As of now, the Mules hold a first-place tie in the conference with Franklin and Marshall. The two have yet to play each other and if the tie still stands, the final game of both teams’ seasons will be winner-take-all for sole possession of first place, the conference regular season champions while also deciding which team will host the Centennial Conference tournament. Behind ‘Berg and F&M is Gettysburg, who Muhlenberg currently holds a tie-breaker advantage over because of the Mules’ win earlier in the season, while Gettysburg was ranked as the top team in all of Division III Women’s Lacrosse. Dickinson is also still in the playoff picture, now 5-2 after the loss to Muhlenberg. Also on the outside looking in are Ursinus and Washington. Washington is the team that gave the Mules their only loss of the season in a shocking 19-9.

To guarantee the Mules a playoff spot they must continue to win games, but even if they were to lose against both Ursinus and F&M, the Mules would still probably sneak in as the last seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament. However, winning out is the obvious goal to ensure the home field advantage for the post season and to be crowned regular season conference champions.

Bonvini and Nagle both credit the amazing chemistry between all of the women on this year’s team for the success they are having. “We have a strong unit on both sides of the field and I would have to say it’s because we are so close off the field that you can truly see it translate onto the field,” said Bonvini. Nagle concurred, “We are a very close-knit team and those friendships off the field lead to our great chemistry on the field.” Maintaining dominance on the road to the post season is something both playmakers say is a necessity to keep the good vibes rolling. “We just need to keep working hard and playing as a team. We have some really tough games coming up but all of these games are winnable,” explained Nagle. And the team knows they can do it well. As far as the matchups for the rest of the season, Bonvini says staying confident and not taking the opposition lightly will be deciding factors for the season finale. Nagle agreed saying, “[F&M] is definitely going to be difficult games but I think we match up well. All teams are well-rounded and have both a strong attack and defense.”

The Mules accomplished a great team win while having a fun senior day to send off another graduating class who have contributed to the great success of the women’s lacrosse program in their time as a Mule. They look to tie and break the single season wins record that last year’s team accomplished with 13. If the Mules can finish the season in first by winning all remaining games they will set another record and set the bar a notch higher totaling 14 wins in a single regular season.