Women's Lacrosse Defeats Vermont 18-6 Behind 12-Goal Run in America East Opener
BOX SCORE
BURLINGTON, VT.- University at Albany women's lacrosse (4-3, 1-0 AE) used its top offensive output of the year to down Vermont (3-6, 0-1) by a score of 18-6 in its America East opener on Saturday night. Dakotah Savitcheff led the Great Danes with seven goals.
The teams traded goals early on, as Savitcheff struck on a free position shot first just 35 seconds into the game. For her first career start and point, redshirt freshman Rachel Heidenreich scored the go-ahead goal from Julie Cryderman with 23 minutes to go in the first half.
Cryderman won her first of seven draw controls in the game after Vermont knotted the game at two. Rachel Bowles hit Sarah Martin off the victory at the circle to jumpstart a 12-goal run. Martin and Savitcheff scored seven of the next eight UAlbany goals, and Alie Jimerson assisted on four of the next five.
Despite dropping four draws after going up 3-2, the Purple & Gold recovered defensively to force turnovers and regain possession, courtesy of Savitcheff and Heidenreich. The Great Danes made the most of their opportunities to go up 7-2.
With a five-goal margin in hand, UAlbany regained control of the draw to conclude the half. John Battaglino's squad took a 12-2 advantage into the break, and out-shot the Catamounts 19-6 in the opening stanza.
Savitcheff re-asserted herself at the crease to score twice at the top of the second half. Jimerson and Martin served up the assists to UAlbany's leading goal-scorer to register a 14-2 edge.
Vermont put two up on the scoreboard, but the Great Danes would record four of the final six tallies to leave Burlington with an 18-6 America East victory. The Purple & Gold committed just eight turnovers in the game, and won 8 of 11 draw controls in the second half.
Dakotah Savitcheff scored seven goals on nine shots, while Jimerson tallied a career-high six assists to rank tied for fourth in single-game leaders in the Division I UAlbany ranks. Savitcheff's goal total marks the fourth time in her career that the attack has fired off seven goals. The junior passed Jodi Battaglia ('11) in all-time career goals with 121 to date to rank tied for seventh.
Sarah Martin (seven points) and Julie Cryderman (seven draw controls) also recorded new career highs against the Catamounts. Rachel Bowles tallied her 153rd career goal with a four-score effort, and is eight goals shy of breaking the all-time UAlbany career goals record. The graduate student midfielder also became the first women's lacrosse Great Dane to earn 200 career points.
Next up, UAlbany women's lacrosse visits Yale (5-4, 2-1 Ivy) on Saturday, April 2 at 3:00 p.m.
