MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team scored three extra-man goals in the first 22 minutes that helped it bolt to a 13-goal halftime lead on the way to a 20-3 non-conference victory over New England College Sunday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
The home match was the first this year for Eastern (4-1), while New England was playing its season opener. The teams were meeting for the ninth time but first time since 2003, when the Warriors posted a 14-3 win at Henniker, NH. In the last full season in 2019, the Pilgrims had won 14 games and qualified for the NCAA tournament.
 
Six different Eastern players contributed a goal and eight had a goal or assist when the Warriors bolted to a 6-0 lead after 11 minutes Sunday, with first-year sophomore transfers Caroline Stent (Weatogue) and Jessie Pyrek-Bennett (Monroe) scoring on the man-advantage in that early stretch, and Pyrek-Bennett's second extra-man goal with eight minutes left in the half pushing the lead to 9-1.
 
Led by Stent, Eastern won 19 of 24 draws in the game, taking a 13-2 advantage in that category into halftime. Stent led both teams with five to give her a team-leading 26 on the season, with senior Tristan Kijak (Windsor) , junior Cassie Bennett (Milford) and sophomore Mackenzie Shrewsbury (Sprague) each winning three. Kijak, who already has more than 100 career ground balls and 100 draws, caused two turnovers to move to within four of 100 in that category.
 
Starting her third game in five days, sophomore goalie Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor) made five saves to improve to 2-1 on the season.
 
Stent, Kijak, Pyrek-Bennett, Bennett, and first-year sophomore transfer Shay Ventresca (Oakdale) all chipped in three goals in the balanced attack, with senior Sydney Hogan (Northford) moving into the all-time Top 15 with three assists that give her 31 in 25 career matches. In addition to her goals and draws, Bennett picked up three ground balls and caused a turnover.
 
Freshman Nathalie Antigua totaled her first two career goals for New England College, her first stopping Eastern's opening run of six straight goals. Senior Alexandria Safford  won three of her team's five draws.
 
Eastern hosts Becker College Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference match before hosting Castleton University in the Little East Conference opener Saturday at 4 p.m.