GREENSBORO, N.C. – Spring has sprung in Greensboro! Or at least as far as Quaker athletics is concerned as the Guilford College women's lacrosse team opened their 2024 campaign against Berry College, dropping 20-5 on Friday night at Appenzeller Field.
Maggie Hartnett (Oxford, Maine) collected a pair of goals and assists while
Kylie Horn (Fairfax, Va.) found the back of the net twice herself in the defeat.
The game served as the season-opener for both teams with the Vikings rising to 1-0 and GC dropping to 0-1.
Zenna Carson (Blacksburg, Va.) spent a bulk of the evening in net for the Quakers, playing the entire first half and the fourth quarter. She faced 29 shots, sending back 16 of them against 13 goals allowed, she took the loss to fall to 0-1.
Sam Keene (Greensboro, N.C.) played the third quarter for Guilford allowing seven goals against four saves. All three rostered goalies appeared for Berry. Myskina Bolavong played the first frame allowing three goals against one save, but finished as the tender of record in the contest to improve to 1-0. Ally Washburn played most of the way allowing two goals against one save in the second and third periods while Libby Pittman finished things off and did not face a shot on frame in the fourth.
Hartnett added a team-best six ground balls in addition to a pair of draw controls and caused turnovers, both of which were tied for the team-high for Guilford. Horn scored her two goals on her only two shot attempts for GC while
Maggie Bryson (Kernersville, N.C.) rounded out the scoring with a goal in addition to an assist.
The tandem of Haley Larsen and Dani Taraska seized the night for the Vikings. Larson dominated the draw with 21 draw controls with 11 ground balls while pilling up seven goals and two helpers. Taraska pitched in six goals of her own in addition to 11 ground balls. Annakate Estock served as the primary facilitator with five assists.
The first two minutes would pass without a score before Taraska broke the ice, scoring twice within 20 seconds with Larsen tacking on one more just over a minute later. The Quakers found some offensive traction with Hartnett getting on the board before proving the assist to Horn as GC got back within one. Taraska's third of the frame was countered by Horn's second tally with 21 seconds remaining as the score stood at 4-3 after one.
The floodgates would open for the Vikings in the second. Adrienna Van Soelen opened things up with her first of the season before Larsen scored three consecutively. Three other players would add singular goals in the stanza for the guests capped off by Taraska's fourth of the half in the man-up situation. Bryson did break things up with one for the Quakers but the half would conclude with the score standing at 11-4.
A change in net for Guilford would prove fruitless as the third frame began as the second quarter ended, with Taraska finding the back of the net. BC added three more before the Quakers countered with Harnett's second tally, ending the 11-1 run. It proved to be a minor setback as the Vikings scored thrice more in the quarter, including a pair from Larsen to make things 18-5 into the final break.
With running clock for the entirety of the fourth, Berry polished off the scoring with two more tallies from Molly Cross and Maddie Marshburn to bring the final score to 20-5.
Guilford hits the road for a full month starting with a trip to Sweet Briar College at Tuesday beginning at 4:30 PM.
