Manhattan’s Women’s Lacrosse Team Defeats Sacred Heart in Season Opener

time that our offense will be able to handle it under the pressure as the next goal wins. I knew that we had it in us to win and we did.” ized the scoring was back and forth. Both the Jaspers and Pioneers brought their A-game to keep the game competitive and exciting. strong gut feeling that she and her team were going to win. be the one to score.

Manhattan College women’s lacrosse kicked off their season with a win over Sacred Heart University in overtime.

The Jaspers put points on the board first with a goal from Reagan Mullins. After that, the scoring was back and forth and MC eventually capped the win in overtime.

Midfielder Ashley Bonitch described the feeling she and her teammates felt going into overtime.

“It was thrilling,” Bonitch said. “I knew going into over-

Bonitch also discussed the motivation she has for the rest of the season. Bonitch knows that no matter what it takes, she and her teammates have the skills and mindset to keep the flame going for the rest of the season.

“It shows that even when it comes down to close games like that, we can pull through and we won’t let a close score get in our head and we can win any game,” Bonitch said.

Bonitch shared the thought process she had when she real-

“We started out very strong,” Bonitch said. “At some point in the second quarter, we were up 7-1, but then they started to inch their way back and it got closer and closer. In the end, it was going back and forth like goal to goal and tie, winning, tie, winning. It got a little bit nerve-wracking as we got into our heads a little bit but we pulled through and we showed that we can win that game.”

Bonitch remained positive during the game and had a

Midfielder Julianna Lovine shared her thoughts on holding onto the lead the entire game despite the scores being close.

“I think the whole time our team was like that, we needed to stay up,” Lovine said. “We were kind of in roles. We knew we had to keep on fighting to the very end like in overtime. We didn’t go into overtime nervous. We were just ready to play.”

In overtime, Lovine scored the winning goal to officially end the game. She scored it off a free-position shot. Lovine told The Quadrangle how it felt to

“I felt great,” Lovine said. “I knew once we got the draw control, we had possession. And I just knew that we were going to be able to come out with a win and score. It felt amazing.”

Lovine was proud of the hard work that she and her team put in. Lovine described it as “showing the grit of our team.” This win proved what the Jaspers can overcome and it gives the team great vibes going into the rest of the season.

Attacker Reagan Mullins started off the game with a goal inside the three minutes. Mullins described how she felt during the game.

“It definitely gave us a lot of confidence,” Mullins said. “The preseason poll came out and we’re ranked seventh which I don’t think we deserve to be that low. Just because we made it so far and we have a lot of great returners and some great talent. I’m just excited to see everyone’s contributions moving forward.”

Mullins was able to share the thought process she had due to the scoring being back and forth.

“It was definitely nerve racking but I was fully confident in myself and the team, just staying mentally in check the entire game and just staying positive just goes a long way,” Mullins said. “I was just fully confident that we were going to win that game because the energy was good the entire game.”

The Jaspers’ win versus Sacred Heart set a pretty good tone for the rest of the season and the team can’t wait to see what happens moving forward.

The Jaspers’ next game is going to be on Saturday, February 18 at 12 p.m. This is their first road game of the season at Fairleigh Dickerson.