By Charles Jardine
Sports Editor
The Franciscan University women’s lacrosse team defeated the Muskingum Muskies in their home opener 14-6 on Saturday Mar. 4th at 4 p.m.
The Lady Barons started the game hot, led by their new head coach Brittany Bain, putting immense offensive pressure on the Muskie defense. The Muskies desperately tried to keep the ball off their end, clearing the ball often, but not long after in the sixth minute, graduate student attack Grace Deegan struck first for the Lady Barons.
Keeping the pressure on, the Lady Barons continued to play with the ball on the Muskie end. Sophomore attack Carolyn Cooke struck the back of the net in the tenth minute on another free position shot, putting the Lady Barons up 2-0.
The second quarter featured an explosion of offensive power scoring seven goals in the next fifteen minutes. Junior midfielder Riley O’Brien scored first for the Lady Barons, putting them up 3-1. Deegan made quick work of the Muskie defense, scoring in both the fifth and sixth minute of the quarter.
Cooke scored her second goal of the game in the seventh minute, quickly followed Deegan in the eighth and by sophomore midfielder Theresa Lyle in the ninth to put the Lady Barons up 8-1. Junior Joanna Hilkert scored the last goal for the Lady Barons of the quarter, giving them a 9-1 lead at the half.
The third quarter was the most even matchup with both teams scoring three goals each. The Muskies kicked off the scoring with a quick goal in the first minute after winning the draw. Lyle responded 20 seconds later, scoring after controlling the draw for her second goal of the game.
The Lady Barons continued with the offensive pressure, allowing O’Brien to score twice more in the fourth and fifth minute, giving the Lady Barons a 12-2 lead. The Muskies attempted to make a comeback applying some offensive pressure of their own scoring twice more to cut the Lady Baron lead to eight.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Barons maintained their lead, and played a controlled game forcing the Muskies to play with desperation. The Muskies broke through the Lady Baron defense and scored in the fourth minute. Hilkert responded three minutes later to keep the Lady Baron lead at eight. Junior attack Katheryn Brehm picked up her first goal of the season in the eighth minute, putting the Lady Barons up 14-5.
The Muskies found a way to score one more goal before the end of the game, making the final score 14-6.
The Lady Barons are currently 1-0 on the season and will be going to face Oberlin College Mar. 8 at 6 p.m.