Dinger Nets 100th Career Goal, Women's Lacrosse Dominates Castleton, 21-9

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's lacrosse dominated its season opener at home against Castleton University, taking down the Spartans 21-9 Wednesday night on the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn. Senior Makenzie Dinger (Hingham, Mass.) finished with 10 goals to pace the Blue Jays and scored her 100th career goal. Graduate student Ashley Rufo (Pittsfield, Mass.) and junior Lauryn Wilks (Hartford, Conn.) also had stellar debuts for USJ. Rufo tallied four goals and two assists, while Wilks netted a hat-trick.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Castleton 9, USJ 21
Records: Castleton 0-1, USJ 1-0
Location: USJ Lacrosse Field | West Hartford, Conn.

Freshman goalkeeper Colleen Stringer (Point Lookout, N.Y.) was tested early, but made a pair of point-blank saves. Rufo rewarded her netminder, finding space out in front of the goal and rifling a shot on goal that was deflected past the Castleton goalkeeper, giving USJ the early lead at the 12:32 mark. Dinger quickly made it two, receiving a pass from Rufo before firing her shot into the net, scoring her 100th career goal and extending the lead to 2-0 with 10:50 left in the first quarter. Castleton would cut the gap with a goal of their own moments later, but Cayleen Defaranos (Northford, Conn) quickly reestablished a two-goal lead with a strike at the 8:36 mark.

Sophomore Maya Tomko (Sparta, N.J.) joined in on the goal parade, netting back-to-back tallies, including a free-position goal, increasing the USJ lead to 5-1 with 7:27 on the clock. Stringer continued to play lights out in goal, denying Castleton any opportunities to get back in the game. Dinger would net her second of the game moments later, getting space before finding the back of the net with 4:29 to play, forcing Castleton to call a timeout. The Spartans would take advantage off the timeout, finding the back of the net again, to cut the gap to 6-2 heading into the second quarter.

USJ continued to pile on the goals in the second period as Rufo and Wilks increased the lead to 8-2 inside the opening three minutes. Castleton would get one back, but the Blue Jays would score four unanswered from Rufo, Dinger and a pair from Wilks, increasing the lead to 12-3 with 8:31 left in the half. Castleton put an end to the run, but two late goals, one from Dinger and one from Rufo, saw USJ lead, 14-4, entering the halftime break.

Castleton started the third quarter strong, scoring two unanswered goals to pull back within single digits, 14-6, at the 13:42 mark. However, USJ would answer back as sophomore Karina Jassil (North Branford, Conn.) found herself wide open in front of goal, spinning and firing a backhanded shot past the Spartans goalkeeper, increasing the lead to 15-6. The Spartans though fired right back, scoring from a woman-down situation, cutting the gap to 15-7, and forcing USJ to call a timeout with 8:03 on the clock. Castleton scored again from a woman-down situation to cut the gap to 15-8, but Dinger would race down the middle of the field before firing a shot into the net, giving USJ a 16-8 edge with 5:16 left in the quarter.

Dinger quickly added another goal to her tally, picking off a pass in mid-air before firing a strike into the net, increasing the gap back to nine, 17-8. That score line would hold heading into the final quarter.

USJ would not let up in the fourth though as Dinger added four more goals to secure a 21-9 victory for the Blue Jays.

GOALIE BREAKDOWN

Castleton– Graduate student Katie Opiela played every minute in goal for Castleton, recording nine saves and picking up the loss to drop to 0-1 on the young season.

USJ – Stringer earned the win (1-0) after allowing only eight goals and tallying 10 saves in 52:28 minutes of action. Freshman Ariel DiSanti (Agawam, Mass.) played 5:40, tallying one save and allowing a goal, while sophomore Abigail Delgado (Southington, Conn.) played the remaining 1:22.

UP NEXT
The Blue Jays begin a three-game road trip on Saturday, March 4, making the trek to New England College. Opening draw against the Pilgrims is set for 1:00 p.m. on Don Melander Field in Henniker, N.H.

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