BY CHRIS ARNAUDO // March 8, 2017 //

With the women’s lacrosse team handling non-conference Salem State University 15-9, head coach Caitlin Roberts tallied her 200^th career win for the Colonels.

Roberts started the program 16 years ago and has retained the head coaching position ever since. “It feels great,” Roberts said postgame. “However, I don’t coach for my own personal wins. I coach for these girls,” she quickly elaborated.

Her girls already looked like they were in mid-season form, especially offensively. They were led by senior Kelly Parker who had three goals on nine shots on net, including an incredible backhander that beat Salem State goaltender Karlie McLear clean.

Parker pointed out that the Vikings played the same zone defense Curry played last year, so they knew which pockets to attack offensively. That allowed her, classmates Lauren Carroll (3) and Malorie Knowlton (4), and freshman Abby Dubel (4) all to have multi-goal games.

Roberts was quick to mention the play of her senior captain Knowlton, who added two assists, but wanted to talk more about her play on the defensive side of the ball. Salem’s Carolyn Woodin was virtually shut down (2 goals on 4 shots) thanks to the blanket defense from #9 in Purple and White.

The closest the game ever got was when the Colonels held a 6-4 lead going into halftime. Curry rattled off the next five goals in the second half, pushing the score to 11-4 to start to put the game out of reach for the Vikings.

The Colonels worked quick and scored fast in the offensive zone while Salem’s offense was much more methodical, using the perimeter to generate chances closer to the net. That is about the time senior Rachel Smith stepped up in net.

Her only other two years on the team were spent as a midfielder and she was forced between the pipes after Annie Douglas left the spot vacant by getting her degree and all. Smith saw 13 shots on the afternoon and stopped four in her first game action.

She gets the opportunity to continue to build on her improvement tomorrow afternoon as the Colonels sneak in one more game up here before they head to Florida for “Spring Break”. A road trip to Lasell and a flight is the only thing separating them from the warm sun at this point.