CUA Women’s Lacrosse Secures Commanding Win on Senior Day
Image Courtesy of CUA Sports
By John Diaz
This past Saturday, April 23, the Catholic University of America’s women’s lacrosse team picked up a big in-conference win against Juniata. It was a beautiful, sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky, and the temperature at game time was in the 70s. It seemed like the perfect conditions to celebrate Senior Day for the team.
The eight seniors who were recognized on Senior Day were Anna Maupin, Julia Piet, Caitlyn Bowles, Lauren Zelnik, Molly Monoghan, Rachel Searle, Iszy Del Peschio, and Clare Richards. The team out-scored Juniata 17-2, and the win further solidified Catholic’s lead in the Landmark Conference. Being top dog in the conference is not a foreign feeling for the women’s lacrosse team: the win on Saturday marked the 50th straight win in Landmark Conference play for the Cardinals. These seniors have not experienced a conference loss or a season where they did not win the Landmark Conference Championship.
Catholic dominated the game from the start, jumping out to a quick ten-goal lead. The seven seniors who played field positions each had at least one goal, and senior Iszy Del Peschio, who plays defense, scored her first career goal. She celebrated the goal in style by doing a wonderfully executed griddy. The senior goalkeeper, Rachel Searle, racked up four saves. Junior Kate Olsen had a hat trick with three goals. Junior Caroline Beckett led the Cardinals in assists with four, and senior Julia Piet led the team in ground balls with six, which is a career high.
The game marked a good number of season highs for the team: 37 ground balls, 27 turnovers, and the final score, 17-2, was the season’s second highest win margin by the Cardinals, topped only by their 17-1 defeat of Susquehanna on March 26.
The Cardinals are currently ranked 18th in the nation and are looking to rise in the rankings in the final two regular season games at Shenandoah University on April 27 and Moravian University at home on April 30. The game against Moravian marks the last conference game before the Cardinals enter the Landmark Conference Championships starting May 4. The Cardinals have won the conference each year since 2014 and look to continue their conference win streak and net yet another Landmark Conference Championship to close out this season.
