Women’s lacrosse ends season with loss

The Hartford Women’s Lacrosse team played their final game of the 2019 season on Saturday, April 27, as they took on UMass Lowell for their Senior Day on Al Marzook Field. The lone senior being honored, Billy McLaughlin, excelled on and off the field. The British Columbia native started with the Hawks on day one and has held a key role in laying the foundation for the new program. McLaughlin previously was named a Presidential Scholar, and won the Edward Weinswig Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete award in recognition of her 3.91 GPA, the highest of all senior athletes.

In the match-up against the River Hawks, the team tried to gain momentum, but couldn’t keep it for a long period of time. UMass Lowell scored the first eight goals of the game in the first 18 minutes.

However, the Hawks did not back down. The first goal of the game was off a cross-crease feed from sophomore Megan Miller to McLaughlin at 10:46. Next, sophomore Debbie Phillips scored off an assist from fellow sophomore Melissa Gratwicke to go into halftime. Hartford put up three goals in the second half, with two back-to-back from Miller and one from McLaughlin. The defense held the River Hawks to just six goals in the second half, but couldn’t get over their first-half deficit. On the scoresheet, sophomores Ashlee Smestad, Phillips and Gratwicke all tallied one assist apiece.

The final score in this one was 19-5 in favor of UMass Lowell.  Losing only one senior, the Hawks go into next year with a full roster to try to gain momentum in year three of the program’s existence.