Brenden Curry
Staff Writer

The Millersville women’s lacrosse team took a step in the positive direction as they strive to become a team to watch this season.

Millersville won their season opener 13-7 against the Georgian Court Lions on a chilly Friday afternoon at Chryst Field.

Senior Jamie Damirgian stated that starting off with a win is always a great feeling. It starts us off in the right direction and it is a confidence boost getting a win.

“It sets a tone for the rest of the season that we are a strong team with a drive to win,” sophomore Brooke Davis said.

Coming off an early deficit, freshman midfielder Sarah Leverentz scored Millersville’s first goal that was assisted by Renee Landis. Davis stated that Leverentz scoring the first goal of the game is a huge accomplishment due to her being new to college lacrosse.

“It’s never a good feeling when the other team scores first,” Damirgian said. “We don’t want them starting off better than us.”

Millersville then came off another deficit by junior Sabrina Fusco. Damirgian mentioned how scoring early in the game is definitely important because it sets the tone early.

“We always say score early and often,” Damirgian said.

Davis mentioned that draw controls were a key factor in the win. Damirgian was able to place the ball out midfield to capitalize on every opportunity to get the ball.

“We all take the different strengths we have and make them work together,” Davis said.

Sophomore midfielder Erin Fagan’s goal gave the Marauders their first lead of the game. Late in the first half, Millersville would extend their lead with back-to-back goals. Junior Callie Kavanagh scored an unassisted goat that broke a 3-3 tie.  Fusco would then expand their lead a minute later. The Marauders led 5-4 at the break.

Two minutes into the second half, senior Jamie Damirigian scored the first of her two second half goals. Junior Kristen Butzner would then score her first goal of the season a minute later.

Damirigan’s second goal started a scoring streak of five unanswered goals. Both of her goals were unassisted. She would then assist Landis’s only goal of the game two minutes later.

Butzner and Kavanagh both earned their second goals of the game midway through the second half.

With 11:37 left in the second half, Fusco would cap her hat trick with an assist from Landis. Landis also assisted Kavanagh’s second goal of the game.

Fagan would cap the scoring with her second unassisted goal with less than three minutes left in the game.

Davis then mentioned that Renee Landis and Sabrina Fusco worked really well together on the attacking end throughout the game.

“We really corrected everything that was not going well in the first half,” Davis said.”

Goalkeeper Shannon Davis saved 13 shots, while allowing seven goals. Brooke Davis also mentioned how Shannon (Davis) came out strong and had some key saves throughout the whole game. When the team was in transition, Brooke Davis mentioned that Davis does a great job of telling where the open girls are and if someone needs to slide over to help.

“Shannon (Davis) sees everything that is going on and really communicates that with us on the field,” Davis said.

The Marauder defense played a strong game the entire time. They played as a united unit and capitalized on the Lions’ missed opportunities. They came out strong in the second half and made the corrections they needed to from the first half, which set the pace for the second half. Davis would add that [herself], Kelly Devlin, Morgan Masiejczyk, and Natalie Sukanick all mesh well together and keep the defensive end locked down.

“Our defense has been working on playing as a unit and trusting one another,” Damirgian said.

The win made this team ready for the season and set them off to a good direction. They have worked really hard all year to get to this point and the win on Friday shows it.

The win showed the team by playing all 60 minutes in each game can result in great things this season. Damirgian would then mention that the team is excited to see what this season has in store for them.

“Many things contributed to the overall win,” Davis said. “It definitely backs up the mentality that we don’t want to be unnoticed this season.”