Huntingdon women’s lacrosse makes strong first impression

Huntingdon women’s lacrosse makes strong first impression

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon women's lacrosse team may have been a little nervous Saturday morning, but it didn't show.

The Lady Hawks scored nine goals in the first 20 minutes of the game and downed the University of Dallas 20-11 in Huntingdon's first women's lacrosse game. Huntingdon jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first half and led 13-5 at halftime.

"This was a great confidence boost for us," junior goalie Alexis McDonald said. "Being Huntingdon's first women's lacrosse team, all of us have been working hard for this first game. Right now, it feels a little overwhelming to know we were part of the first win in school history. You can't put a price on that.

"We were able to get the first-game jitters out of the way today and now we need to continue working hard and get ready for the next game."

Head coach Liz Frisoli said it was an amazing feeling to watch her team debut with a win.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of these girls for showing up ready to play and the way they represented Huntingdon College," Frisoli said. "I was impressed with the intensity and the consistency of our play and I'm glad we were able to play our entire bench.

"We still have a lot to improve on, but the girls showed us a lot of good things today. We have worked hard to get to this point and we're going to keep working."

Eight different players scored for Huntingdon and five players recorded assists. Freshman Lonnitria Keenan scored the first goal for the Lady Hawks less than a minute into the game.

"It was exciting. It's an accomplishment that really leaves you speechless," Keenan said. "This win was a great way for our program to start and we want to keep building and get stronger every game."

Keenan also recorded the first assist in program history.

"After our last practice this week, I told the girls the player that scores first is always going to be remembered for scoring Huntingdon's first goal," Frisoli said. "It was amazing that Lonnitria scored the first goal and had the first assist for our program. That's special."

Jen Price led Huntingdon in scoring with four goals and also had an assist and five ground balls. Jamie Reschke, Briana Gress and Kalyn Spatol each scored three times. Candace Williams, Bridget Lee and Shannen O'Leary each added two goals.

Reschke, Lee and Katie McLean each had one assist. O'Leary had six of the Lady Hawks' 18 draw controls.

McDonald recorded 13 saves and Rachael Phillips finished with three saves.

Huntingdon returns to action on Tuesday, hosting LaGrange at 3 p.m.