By Dominic Rapposelli
Sports Editor
Washington College women’s lacrosse punched a ticket to their twelfth straight playoff appearance with a victory over the Swarthmore College Garnet in a home battle on Saturday, April 24. The Shorewomen are now 24-10 against Swarthmore in the all-time series.
The Shorewomen faced a rocky start to Centennial Conference play, dropping four straight after their victory over the Ursinus College Bears. The Shorewomen strung together positive play over the final three outings of the season to make the late season push they needed.
“It feels great to know we are ending our season on a high note by making playoffs for the twelfth straight time, especially being a senior, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” senior defender Alexis Tackney said.
Against the Garnet, sophomore midfielder MaryCate Anson found the back of the net once and added two ground ball recoveries. She was also on the heels of her walk off, overtime goal against Dickinson College on Saturday, April 20.
“We knew going into conference play that we would face some really skilled teams, but I think we all took that on with some excitement to see how we would perform against them. I’m confident that we’ll be able to build on the energy from beating Dickinson and [Swarthmore],” sophomore midfielder MaryCate Anson said.
After Swarthmore put the first points on the board, the Shorewomen responded with six unanswered goals, which saw Anson notch the first goal for WC. The Shorewomen never coughed up the lead for the rest of the afternoon, surviving a 5-0 fourth quarter attempted rally from the visitors.
The Shorewomen held on against Swarthmore with a final score of 12-9. The squad would follow their home finale with a trip to McDaniel for their regular season road conclusion.
“I definitely feel like it’s the perfect time to have this momentum building for us this late in the season. Going into the playoffs with an extra boost of confidence in ourselves is always so important. All across the field I feel like we have really hit our stride, which is great to see,” Anson said.
McDaniel opened up with an 11-9 halftime lead, however WC would score four unanswered goals in the bottom of the third to bring the score to 14-12 in favor of the Shorewomen.
A goal from freshman attackwoman Valerie Rock put the Shorewomen up for good in the contest with a goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Rock has made her first career starts over the Shorewomen’s previous two outings. Her impressive showings were enough to earn her the first Shrewoman of the Week award of her early career.
Senior midfielder Abby Laubach added a single game-best four caused turnovers, putting her at third in program history (194).
“It has been exciting to show off all of the work that I and the whole team have put in and to be able to go to the playoffs for the first time and to continue the streak for the team,” Rock said.
Next up, the Shorewomen will travel to Allentown, Pa. to take on the Muhlenberg College Mules. The game will be the first postseason matchup between the rivals on Wednesday, May 1. Earlier this season, the Mules outperformed the Shorewomen to the tune of a 11-8 Muhlenberg road victory. The Shorewomen have won the last four road meetings in the rivalry and lead the all time series 25-12.
Photo Caption: The Shorewomen used a three game winning stretch at the end of the regular season to propel them to the postseason
Photo Courtesy of Grace Hazlehurst