Danville, KY - The first game for a brand new head coach always comes with excitement, nerves, and energy. For Carter Hall and Centre Women's Lacrosse, Saturday's season opener brought out all those emotions and more. The Colonels dominated Muskingum from the start, en route to a 19-3 win in Hall's debut.
The first quarter got off to a slow start for Centre as the Colonels began to adapt against a fresh opponent and a new system of offense. The breakthrough came with just over 6 minutes to play in the first as
Chrissy Krncevic took a feed from
Audrey Haines in the circle and buried it for the 1-0 lead.
Olivia Sweasy doubled the advantage with 2:23 to play in the first. The Colonels took a 3-0 lead after 1 thanks to a woman-up goal from Haines off a feed from
Gracie Garner.
Muskingum got one back early in the 2nd, but
Riley Jackson had the answer at the 12:33 mark to re-establish the three-goal advantage. Muskingum countered with a goal at 9:40 to cut Centre's lead to 4-2. Short-lived nerves set in for the crowd but quickly dissipated at the 5:47 mark as Garner scored off a feed from Haines. Just 1:20 later,
Mary Sterling Anderton scored for a 6-2 lead. She would add another and assisted on a late Haines goal to give Centre an 8-2 lead at halftime.
Sophia Richardson needed just 28 seconds to score in the 3rd quarter for extend the lead.
Gracie Garner made it a 10-2 game off an assist from
Riley Jackson with 9:46 to play in the 3rd. Jackson then took her turn in the goal column at the 8:41 mark off a feed from
Chrissy Krncevic. The running clock then came into play as
Sophia Richardson gave the Colonels a 12-2 edge with just under 8 to play. The Colonels kept it rolling from there to seal the win in Carter Hall's debut, resulting in Hall getting the water jug bath from the team at game's end.
Audrey Haines led a dazzling debut with 5 goals and 4 assists.
Gracie Garner scored 4 goals on 5 shots to go with 3 assists.
Olivia Sweasy,
Mary Sterling Anderton,
Chrissy Krncevic,
Riley Jackson, and
Sophia Richardson all ended with 2 goals each. The balance continued with the assists as Centre tallied 15 helpers on the 19 goals.
Mary Haley stopped 7 of 10 in goal to pick up the win.
The Colonels stay home next Saturday for a matchup with Oberlin. The opening draw is set for Noon.
