WASHINGTON, Pa. – A pair of milestones were reached to highlight the Washington & Jefferson College women's lacrosse team's 20-1 victory over the visiting Bethany Bison. Wednesday's win in Washington was not only a special occasion for head coach
Alison Valerio but also for senior goalkeeper
Kaitlyn Brown (Charlotte Hall, Md. / La Plata). The win marks Valerio's 100th victory as a collegiate head coach. Brown collected five saves during the victory to surpass 500 saves for her career.
Alison Valerio, currently in her 11th season as head coach of the Presidents, registered her first win over Franklin College in March of 2015. Following the Wednesday win over the Bison, Valerio has a compiled record of 100-56 at W&J. Valerio has led W&J to five conference titles and has been named conference Coach of the Year four times.
Wednesday marked the 56th start in goal for Brown, who has been a mainstay as the top goalie in the PAC the past four seasons. The 502 career saves currently rank Brown second on the all-time saves list. The only other President to reach 500 career saves was Julia McClellan, a 2013 graduate who finished with 534 saves during her time with the program.
The win is the third straight for the Presidents, who improve to 3-6 overall and 2-0 in conference. The loss drops the Bison to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in the PAC.
The Presidents were dominant from the outset as they opened the game with six-straight goals over the course of the first 10 minutes.
Three of which would come from
Sofia Jenkins (Hughesville, Md. / The Calverton School) as she secured her fifth hat trick of the season.
A lone goal from Bethany's Lexie Reid would break up the Presidents scoring in the first quarter. The Red & Black would then go on to score 14 more consecutive goals to end out the game with a score of 20-1.
Nine Presidents would score in the 20-goal effort. Jenkins led the way with four goals, followed by
Anna Kloehn (Canton, Ohio / Jackson),
Aisa Uhler (East Lansing, Mich. / East Lansing), and
Caleigh Bogats (Oakdale, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) who all collected a hat trick on the evening.
Mya Bolinda (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) and
Emily Heck (Reading, Pa. / Berks Catholic) both chipped in two goals apiece.
Haley Lawyer (Glenside, Pa. / Archbishop Wood),
Ella Holland (Healdsburg, Calif. / Cardinal Newman), and
Brynne Stewart (Painesville, Ohio / Andrews Osborne Academy) all found the scoring column once.
Heck led the team with four assists and five ground balls. Jenkins finished with seven points while Heck and Bolinda added six points and five points, respectively.
Ella Phillips (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) finished with four ground balls and four caused turnovers to pace the defensive efforts. Bolinda scooped up a game-high seven draw controls.
The Red & Black held advantages in shots (30-6), draw controls (14-8), ground balls (27-16) and caused turnovers (16-4).
W&J travels to Greenville to take on the Thiel Tomcats on Saturday, April 6th. Start time is slated for 12 p.m.
