MILTON, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team opened its 2022 season by shutting out Curry College for nearly three quarters in a 13-4 non-conference victory Tuesday evening at Walter M. Katz Field.
 
Eastern, which needed overtime to defeat Curry (0-2) in the second game of 2020, rolled up an 11-0 halftime lead Tuesday and stretched it to 12-0 before the Colonels broke through with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
 
Coming off a 9-6 record in its first season last year under head coach Dee Stephan, Eastern featured four new starting players in the 2022 opener: defenders Abby Parisi (Fairfield) and Addison Twohill (Hamden) and midfielders Aislin Tracey (Putnam) and Emma Oliano (Wallingford). Two new goalies – Madeline Horkey (Montville) and Emma Alford (West Hartford) – also made their collegiate debuts behind junior starter Sarah Gallagher (South Windsor), who made three saves and allowed one goal over the first three quarters.
 
Four different Eastern players combined on the team's first four goals in the opening ten minutes, with Oliano netting her first career assist five minutes into play and scoring her first goal four minutes later.
 
Junior midfielder Caroline Stent (Weatogue) – last year's Little East Conference scoring leader (56-18-74) -- scored three of Eastern's eight first-quarter goals, with junior attacks Jessica Pyrek-Bennett (Monroe) and Chloe Miller (Avon) adding two each. That threesome combined for nine goals and two assists, with Pyrek-Bennett and Miller potting goals 40 seconds apart in the opening minutes to give the Warriors a quick 2-0 advantage.
 
Junior attack Shay Ventresca (Oakdale) had three assists, Stent four ground balls and Parisi and sophomore midfielder Kaylee Drobish (Wallingford) three each.
 
Additional first-year players coming off the bench to see their first collegiate action were Kaylea McCourt (Colchester), Claire Riccitelli-Pestana (Wallingford), Emma Bringman (Danbury), and Gracie Bresson (Bow, NH).
 
Eastern visits Mount Holyoke College Saturday in a non-conference match at  1 p.m. at the MHC Turf and Track Complex. Eastern won five of the six first matches in the series but absorbed a 20-4 punishment during a 3-15 season in 2019. Saturday's contest will be the season-opener for the Lyons, who had their first two matches postponed.