The University of Rhode Island women’s lacrosse team split a two-game homestand, which included the team’s first conference game and final non-conference game.
On a cold Friday evening, the Rams came off to a slow start against the Revolutionaries. Rhode Island fell behind 6-1 with 11:36 remaining in the second quarter, with a man-up goal from fourth-year Kiki Rotay, her second on the day.
Rhode Island outscored George Washington 4-1 over the final 10 minutes of the second half, capped off by a goal with seven seconds left in the half from sixth-year Caitlin Dellecave to make the score 7-5. The goal was Dellecave’s second of the game.
The momentum the Rams built going into halftime would be for naught, as the Revolutionaries scored five unanswered goals, with the fifth coming with 10:40 left in the fourth quarter.
Rhode Island scored two more goals in the game, one by first-year Emerson Goettelmann and another by third-year Calli Dunn, leaving the final score 13-7.
The loss came as the Revolutionaries showed up to play and the Rams were tight, according to URI Head Coach Jenna Slowey.
“I think a lot of these losses that we’ve had this year, we’re playing great teams,” Slowey said. “They’re showing up and in some of the games, we’re not showing up, or we get really tight.”
On a pleasant Wednesday evening, the Rams welcomed Siena University to close out non-conference play. Knotted at four heading into the half, URI fell behind Siena due to a goal by third-year Olivia Nicholson just 50 seconds into the second half.
The Rams pulled in front 6-5 after two unanswered goals, capped off by an unassisted goal from second-year Kate Cumins. After a man-up goal from Siena’s third-year Koehler Nieman to tie the game at six, Cumins scored her second goal of the night to give the Rams a 7-6 lead.
No goals were scored over the final 10:24 of the game. Powered by the defense, Rhode Island was able to close out the game and keep it close throughout.
“I thought our defense played really great today,” Slowey said. “It wasn’t perfect, but when we needed [the defense], they had our backs to be able to figure out how to put a couple more in the back of the net.”
Moving forward, the team is looking to continue to work on themselves, building toward outmatching the previous season as the team begins conference play.
“Last year, we had such a great season,” Slowey said. “We were 8-8, and one win away from making the conference tournament, and I think that pressure got to us a little bit to be like, ‘Okay, this might be the year.’ We got too far ahead of ourselves.”
Next, Rhode Island goes on a two-game road trip. The first game will take place on Saturday at noon against the University of Richmond. For the second, the Rams will travel to Philadelphia to take on La Salle University on Wednesday.
