Engineers Cruise By Rhode Island College, 18-4
March 18, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The women's lacrosse team (1-1) bounced back from a tough overtime loss in their season opener with a convincing 18-4 victory over Rhode Island College (0-3) on Saturday afternoon. Ahead 4-2 just over 12 minutes into the game, MIT went on a 9-0 scoring run and never looked back in their first ever meeting with the Anchorwomen. It was a record-breaking day for senior co-captain Deanna Lentz, who set new game and career records. She tallied five goals and five assists on the day, establishing new Institute records for assists in a game (5) and tying the top MIT mark for points in a game (10). In the process, Lentz passed Kelsey Presson (2002-05) as MIT's all-time leading scorer with 144 points. Senior Randee Miller also had a career game with six goals and two assists for the Engineers.
Early on, the Anchorwomen appeared to be holding their own at Jack Barry Field. Miller capitalized on a free position shot to open the scoring for MIT at 3:21 of the first half, but the Anchorwomen came right back with a goal from senior tri-captain Melissa Reggio at 5:02. However, that was as close as Rhode Island College would get.
Junior midfielder Mary Harding gave MIT a 2-1 advantage at 8:11 and began a barrage of scoring. The Engineers registered eight of the next nine goals, capped by Randee Miller's fourth score of the half at 23:59. During that stretch, Lentz recorder three goals and two assists to trail Presson by only four points on MIT's all-time scoring list. The Engineers held a 10-3 lead when time expired in the first half.
Lentz then opened up the second frame with her fourth goal of the game to extend the Engineers' lead to 11-3. Sophomore Laura Watson scored her second goal of the game at 3:35 and Miller notched her fifth just 37 seconds later before the Anchorwomen finally ended the 9-0 scoring run. Junior tri-captain Caitlin Gavin found the back of the net for the second time at 7:37.
Still with a large lead, MIT continued to pressure the Anchorwomen and at 11:21, Deanna Lentz recorded her eighth point of the game on a pretty pass to Randee Miller. The assist gave Lentz 142 career points, moving her one point ahead of Kelsey Presson on the all-time points list. In the final 19 minutes, Lentz scored again and tallied another assist as the Engineers controlled the game and came away with an 18-4 win.
MIT junior goalie Hee Jay Kay evened her record at 1-1 after making six saves in the win. On the other end, sophomore Sydney Culbertson (0-3) stopped eight of 26 shots for the Anchorwomen.
The Engineers have little time to rest as they travel to Wenham, Mass. on Tuesday, March 21 to face Gordon College (3-1). The game will begin at 4:00 p.m.
