Kenyon’s men’s and women’s lacrosse teams started the season in high-scoring fashion, as each squad delivered 16 goals in their 2022-opening victories. The Lords beat Washington and Jefferson College, 16-4, and the Ladies defeated Otterbein University, 16-8.
Seven different players scored goals Tuesday for the Kenyon College women’s lacrosse team, which overcame an early 3-0 deficit to record an 8-goal season-opening victory at Otterbein. The host Cardinals (1-1) started the game by scoring goals on their first three shots. After that, the Ladies settled down, made some adjustments and pulled even during the next three minutes of play. First-year Blythe Karras notched Kenyon’s first goal of the season, and junior Caroline O’Neil tacked on two in a row to square things up at 3-3 with 4:41 left in the first quarter.
Both teams scored once more in the quarter, and Otterbein then scored the first goal of the second. That would be all the Cardinals would get against the Kenyon defense, which shut down the home team for the next 14 minutes of play. On the other end of the field, Brett Bearrows, O’Neil and Tatumn Eccleston scored one goal each to lift the Ladies into the half with a 7-5 edge.
By the mid-point of the third quarter, the Kenyon lead was whittled down to one goal at 9-8. That set off alarm bells for the Ladies, who responded with three more tallies in the quarter and then four in the fourth. The game-deciding run was fueled by junior Ella Murphy, who rattled off four straight scores for the Ladies. Her four goals tied her with O’Neil for the game-high. Eccleston found twine three times and assisted on another goal. Maddie Garner tacked on two goals and an assist, while Karras added one assist to her first-quarter goal.
In the home and season opener for the Kenyon College men’s lacrosse team, the Lords jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating Washington and Jefferson College by 12 goals. In the game, Kenyon featured 12 goal-scorers, with six players picking up an assist.
The Lords’ opening goal came three minutes into the game when Jack Giuffre found Matt Pollack on the wing, who rifled his shot past the Presidents’ goalkeeper. Only 30 seconds later, Giuffre picked up another assist on Chase MacCartee’s goal. The duo connected once more with 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter to give Kenyon a 3-0 lead. After collecting three assists, Giuffre took care of business himself as he scored on an extra-man opportunity. The junior attacker found Joe Bolea in front of the cage with three minutes left in the first for his fourth assist on the day. The Lords final goal in the first came from Mike Matteo with 1:43 left in the quarter.
Going into the second quarter with a 6-0 lead, Kenyon tacked on another point on Declan Curry’s goal. Washington and Jefferson scored its first goal of the game with 10:30 left before halftime, only to be answered by goals from Ethan Dewbrey and Leo Cowie. At halftime, the Lords held a 9-1 lead, outshooting the Presidents 36-14. The Lords cruised from there, adding seven more scores in the second half. MacCartee, Leo Cowie and Rollins Heath scored two goals each, and Giuffre added one goal and four assists for Kenyon.
