The Blue Jays women’s lacrosse team opened their season on Saturday, taking on the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs on Homewood Field. The 19th ranked Blue Jays came out shooting, as juniors Sammy Cermack, Taylor D’Amore and Sarah Taylor scored the first three goals just three minutes and 28 seconds into the game.
Following a goal by the Lady Monarchs, Jen Cook, a sophomore transfer from the University of Maryland, scored her first career goal off an assist from D'Amore. With 7:38 remaining in the first half, Cermack struck once more on an unassisted netfinder to give the Jays a 5-1 lead. To make it a little more interesting, the Lady Monarchs fired right back netting consecutive unassisted goals with 5:05 remaining.
The two goal deficit was the closest the Lady Monarchs would get for the duration of the game, as senior goalkeeper Cosette Larash made a few critical saves and the Jays put the ball between the pipes for three unanswered scores. Following two scores by D’Amore and Cermack, freshman attackman Dene DiMartino scored her first career goal with 1:32 remaining on a free shot. Going into the half, the Lady Jays were ahead 8-3, on 17 shots, thanks in large part to Cermack’s hat trick and D’Amore’s four points (two goals and two assists).
Despite the Lady Monarchs score on a free position goal 2:50 in the second half, Hopkins would go on to run the table. The Jays scored nine unanswered goals over the next 12 minutes. Taylor D’Amore would start the Blue Jay barrage, followed by a goal from Jen Cook and then consecutive free position goals by Sarah Taylor. Taylor’s second free position strike was also a man-up goal with 21:33 remaining. This made Taylor the third Blue Jay on the day to record a hat trick, as D’Amore’s score gave her one as well.
The Blue Jays continued laying it on, as sophomore attackman Jenna Kasmarik fed DiMartino for DiMartino's second goal of the day. Just a minute later, with 20:01 remaining, Kasmarik put the biscuit into the basket on an assist from D’Amore. Also scoring on the run was sophomore midfielder Sarah Biron, senior attackman Katie Duffey and freshman attacker Jenna Reifler. Reifler's score was a career first. Last but not least, freshman attack/midfielder Caroline Turco notched her first career assist. During this offensive outburst, eight different Lady Jays jumped aboard the scoring train en route to an impressive 17-4 lead with 13:59 of play remaining.
However, the Lady Monarchs were not willing to surrender. Old Dominion went on a 6-1 run, including two free position goals. During this run of over 11 minutes, freshman midfielder Josie George was the only Blue Jay to score.
According to senior Larash, “ODU got a good amount of the draw controls (in the second half), which is essential in our game. Off of the draw controls they did well to score off of fast breaks, and I don’t think it was necessarily because of the younger players.” In the final 16 seconds, Cermack scored on an unassisted goal, bringing her totals to an impressive 4 goals on 8 shots. A final nail in the coffin was provided by Jenna Reifler who scored her second goal of the day with five seconds left.
In the end, Cermack, D’Amore, Taylor and netminder Cosette Larash were all major contributors in the 20-10 victory. Also having big days were Jen Cook , Katie Duffey and senior defensemen Sammi Arbitman and Sophia Sherry. Arbitman and Sherry anchored a Blue Jay defense that only allowed 21 shots, as opposed to the 39 taken by the Blue Jays.
Despite having legitimate goal scorers in years past, the Blue Jays had a great deal of trouble meshing as a unit and ultimately had rather disappointing .500 seasons the past two years. In 2013, the Jays return just five starters, but this is a strong core bolstered by 12 newcomers. Larash ranks third all-time in saves in program history, and Cermack and D’Amore have 18 and 21 game point streaks, respectively.
Asked what she thought about the upcoming season and the roster overhaul, Cermack said, “I think the new lines are meshing really well. We have a lot of threats this year, which is giving us a more dynamic offense. We have Sarah Taylor and Dene DiMartino who are great dodgers out of the midfield and we also have D’Amore, Duffey and Jen Cook who work really well behind the goal. I think we are going to score a lot of goals this season because we all work together as an offensive unit. We are very unselfish and I think this aspect is going to take us deep into the NCAA tournament.”
The team returns to action against Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday on Homewood Field at 4 p.m. The game is followed by Bucknell on Saturday at 4 p.m. at home. Both games are against weaker foes, and are obviously schedule fillers allowing the Lady Jays to prep for their first real test against Loyola. This game will certainly be a test for both programs, and is one the team is more than happy to embrace.
