Sharkin Leads Wellesley Lacrosse To 14-5 Rout Of UMass Dartmouth
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wellesley (1-2) | 8 | 6 | 14 |
|
Mass.-Dartmouth (2-2) | 2 | 3 | 5 |
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Senior Nikki Sharkin (Summitt , N.J.) scored five goals and sophomore Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nevada) added a hat-trick, as Wellesley College lacrosse earned a 14-5 victory over The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in non-conference play on Tuesday evening at Cressy Field.
With the result, Wellesley grabs the squad's first victory of the season to improve to 1-2 overall. UMass Dartmouth drops to 2-2 on the year.
Sharkin took a game-high 10 shots and found the net on half of them, scoring five goals in a game for the fourth time in her Wellesley career. Persky netted her fifth career hat-trick for the Blue, also grabbing a ground ball. First year Carley Phillips (Waterford, Conn.) recorded her third-straight multi-goal game to open the season, scoring two goals, to go along with an assist, two caused turnovers, one draw control and one ground ball. Sophomore Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) also scored a pair for the Blue, while senior Mary Lemay (Longmeadow, Mass.), and first year Maya Sullivan (Cumberland, R.I.) each added goals.
Senior Catrina Longo (Billerica, Mass.) scored a hat-trick to lead the Corsairs, potting a pair of goals in the first half before completing the task in the second half. Junior Erin Kish (Littleton, Mass.) added a goal and two assists, while first year Sam Muir (Sturbridge, Mass.) finished with a goal and a game-high six draw controls. Junior Brooke Martel (Haverhill, Mass.) added four ground balls to lead UMass Dartmouth.
Sharkin scored the first two goals of the game, before Longo cut into the Corsairs' early deficit with her first on a feed from Kish at 23:46. The Blue added three-straight, from Phillips, Persky and Strobl, to jump to a 5-1 lead with 11:15 to go before the half. Kish found Longo again to stop the Blue run at 8:26, but Wellesley followed by ending the half with three more goals, the final coming when defender Jenna Mulrenan (Glen Ridge, N.J.) set-up Sullivan's first career collegiate goal at 1:14.
The Blue continued to roll to open the second half, scoring six unanswered goals to take a commanding 14-2 lead with 16:29 left in regulation. Sharkin scored her final three goals following halftime, with the last coming on an assist from Phillips at 22:40. Persky and Strobl followed Sharkin's third with goals at 20:03 and 16:29, respectively, while Phillips also scored at 25:25 as part of the Blue run. The Corsairs closed out the game with three-straight goals, but never threatened as Wellesley took the 14-5 final.
Senior Wendy Nettleton (La Jolla, Calif.) and sophomore Chloe Tucker (San Ramon, Calif.) combined to make 11 saves for the Blue. Nettleton earned the victory, her first of the season, and finished with a game-high four ground balls. In the UMD cage, sophomore Kaitlyn Burchill (Bridgewater, Mass.) made 10 saves on 24 shots on goal, as the Blue finished the contest with a 31-21 advantage in total shots.
Wellesley returns home to host Eastern Connecticut State on Friday afternoon, March 10, at 4:00 PM. UMass Dartmouth will host Saint Joseph's (Maine) in their next outing on Saturday, March 11, at 1:00 PM.