The University of Rhode Island women’s lacrosse team defeated Merrimack College 13-7 on Saturday.
The Rams were coming off back-to-back losses to Stonehill College and Bryant University, but got a bounce-back victory over the Warriors.
“We were focused on ourselves for Merrimack,” URI Head Coach Jenna Slowey said. “We had a rough start to the season, and some of it was out of our control.”
The scoring leaders for the Rams were second-year attacker Kate Cumins and third-year attacker Caralie Basuel, who both contributed three goals each.
The Warriors tallied seven goals against the Rams, with third-year attacker Lindsay Atkinson and second-year attacker Hailey Schnider leading the way with two goals each.
Rhode Island had a hot start in the first quarter of the game, scoring five goals to get things started.
“We’ve been working a lot on the offensive end,” Slowey said. “I think defense has done a really great job since the start of the season, trying to hold steady for us, and offense took a little bit longer to work some of the kinks a little bit.”
The week wasn’t easy for the Rams to prepare. The record-breaking blizzard made practicing quite a challenge for Rhode Island.
“Three feet of snow is not something you normally plan for,” Slowey said. “We were lucky enough to get some indoor space at Wide World of Sports, but that requires us to go before the players’ classes start. So, waking up at 5 a.m. to get to a 5:45 start time to get a two-hour practice in before their 8 a.m. classes.”
The Rams continued to dominate the entire game. In the second quarter, Rhode Island added two goals from Basuel and first-year attacker Emerson Goettelmann.
In the third quarter, the Rams were able to run away with the game, with Basuel and Cumins adding more goals to their day, as well as third-year attacker Carolyn Kirk and third-year midfielder Calli Dunn each adding a goal to the stat sheet.
In the fourth quarter, Rhode Island added two more goals to seal the deal and come away with its second win on the season.
The Rams have one game remaining in non-conference action, but will first look to start conference play this Friday against George Washington University.
“GW is a great team, we had a great game against them last year,” Slowey said. “They have a lot of firing power, so we are trying to figure out how we can continue to click on offense.”
Last season, Rhode Island was victorious against the Revolutionaries, winning 17-12 on March 26, 2025.
The Rams will open their Atlantic 10 Conference slate against George Washington on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield.
