Westfield freshman midfielder Caroline Smart takes the ball away from Salem’s Katie Hart during first-half action. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
WESTFIELD – Freshman Caroline Smart scored a game-high four goals and junior Stephanie Lenhardt had two goals and a game-high four assists to lead Westfield State University to a 14-7 victory over Salem State University in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women’s lacrosse opener on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls improve to 3-4 overall after erasing an early 4-2 deficit in winning their home opener. The Vikings drop to Salem jumped out to 2-0 lead in the opening five minutes, forcing Westfield first-year head coach Jeff Pechulis to call a timeout.
Trailing 4-2 at the midway point of the first half, the Owls outscored the visitors, 8-0, over the next 27 minutes to take a commanding 10-4 lead with 17:29 remaining in the game.
Westfield’s Jordan Daniels stops Salem’s Kristina Conlon from advancing to the goal. (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
Smart tallied three goals and an assist during the scoring sprint and Lenhardt had a goal and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Blair Smith scored consecutive goals to stake the Owls to a 5-4 lead.
Smith stuffed the stat sheet with three goals, one assist, four groundballs, and three caused turnovers. Senior defender Jen Carew contributed four groundballs and four caused turnovers.
Juniors Kelsey Russell and Kristina Ventura each scored three goals for the Vikings.
Most of the team statistics were fairly even but Westfield outshot Salem, 37-25. Salem goalie Chyenne Jackson had 13 saves and a game-high six groundballs. Westfield goalie Mimi Khampaeng recorded 10 saves.
