PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Millersville women's lacrosse team started its 2024 season on a mission, securing a 14-4 win over the Jefferson Rams in Tuesday's season opener. 

Rachel Keeney played a role in half of the Marauders' goals scored. She kick-started the offense by scoring first goal for the Marauders and put them up 1-0 in just under the 11th minute of play. She finished the game with four goals and three assists. 

"Today's game showed that our hard work during the preseason is paying off," said head coach Kaitlyn Hafdell. 

Five different Marauders scored or assisted. Adding to the attack's success was Ashlyn Simonetti scored four goals while tallying one assist. Kaleigh Funk added three goals to the Marauders' total. Ella Linthicum scored two goals and raked in two assists. Millersville led 10-1 at the half which made it nearly impossible for the Rams to make a comeback. 

With the back line returning intact, Morgan Scott was able to comfortably sink back into the net. Scott held the Rams to only four goals with 12 saves for a 0.750 save percentage. Scott and the Marauders also had 21 successful clears to enable her team to have a successful transition up the field. 

Making their Marauder debuts were Shannon Meder, Rylee Kernaghan, and Bryn Frankhouser. Meder earned the starting spot in the starting line-up. 

The Marauders took 26 shots with an .846% on goal rate, placing 22 on net. Jefferson took 30 shots but was only able to place 16 on net. The Marauders were able to force the Rams to have 11 turnovers. Draw controls were almost split down the middle as Millersville won nine to Jefferson's 11. 

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH KAITLYN HAFDELL

• On the offense's stellar performance: "Our offense works well and is unselfish with our ball movement. No attacking play is solely designed for a certain individual player. It's designed for all 7 attackers to create and make opportunities with each other."
• On the defense's performance allowing four goals: "Our defense completely dominated this game. I believe it was the strongest point of our game. They ran down the opponents' shot clock on numerous occasions and created ample caused turnover opportunities to capitalize on. Morgan having 12 saves today was the cherry on top to a successful defensive unit!"
• Thoughts on freshmen making their mark: "Rylee, Shannon, and Bryn exhibited the type of performance we were excited to show from our freshman class. They were able to shake off their nerves and have a great first start to their Marauder careers."

UP NEXT

• The Marauders hosts Holy Family on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. for their first home game  of 2024.