NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Connecticut College women's lacrosse team started off its 2022 campaign with a dominant win over the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). Senior Kelly Wolin (Sudbury, Mass.) scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Camels to an 18-7 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Connecticut College (1-0) never trailed throughout the game and utilized a fast start to overcome the Mariners. Sophomore Julianna Ingrassia (Garden City, N.Y.) kicked off the scoring spree with a free-position goal 2:48 in. After USMMA answered on a score by Morgan Tracy, Wolin scored back-to-back goals in less than five minutes to give the Camels a 3-1 lead halfway through the first quarter. 

Freshman Aine Downey (Brookline, Mass.) followed up with a smooth finish off an assist by Ingrassia for her first collegiate goal. The Mariners would score with 1:42 remaining to make it a 4-2 game at the conclusion of the opening frame.

The Camels added on in the second quarter to extend their lead on Downey's second goal of the game. Classmate Greta Panke (Milldale, Conn.) hit Downey on a perfect pass across the middle. The freshman was able to bury the ball in the upper-right corner of the goal to make it a 5-2 game. Ever resilient, USMMA's Gianna Russo found the back of the net just over one minute later to cut the lead back down to two.

But for the Mariners, that was the closest they got. The Camels rattled off four unanswered goals to take a 9-3 lead. After a yellow card on USMMA's Maddie Schmidt, Panke scored on a free-postion attempt. Downey and Wolin followed up with their third goal a piece, and freshman Emily O'Rourke (Concord, Mass.) registered her first career goal to cap the four-goal run for the Camels.

The dynamic duo of Downey and Wolin would each add one more goal before halftime and Conn College entered the break with a 12-4 lead.

The third quarter was much more evenly matched. USMMA struck first to cut the lead to seven, but Alyssa Pietz (Brentwood, N.H.) scored on a low turnaround shot to beat Mariners' goaltender Hope Germanakos. Junior Hailey Fahey (Norwich, VT) would score her first goal of the game to extend the Camels lead to 14-5.

Conn continued the relentless offensive attack in the fourth quarter. Ingrassia scored back-to-back goals to push the lead to double digits. Emma Ognibene (New Canaan, Conn.) capped off the home team's triumphant opener with her first collegiate goal to push the final score to 18-7.

Nine different Conn players scored at least one point to showcase a complete offensive effort for the Camels. Goaltender Violette Nidds (Ridgewood, N.J.) recorded 10 saves in goal. 

Connecticut College will next play Smith in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, March 9.