Towson, MD – Carol Schmoeller guided the St. Mary's (Md.) College women's lacrosse team to yet another win; however, this time it wasn't as a player but as a first-year head coach. The Seahawks defeated Villa Julie College, 17-10, Wednesday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University.

In her playing days, Schmoeller '04 helped lead SMCM to a four-year mark of 57-14 for an .803 winning percentage. But last night, she earned her first collegiate coaching victory as St. Mary's and Villa Julie opened up the new Capital Athletic Conference women's lacrosse season.

The Seahawks (1-0), who entered tonight's contest ranked 13th in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Preseason Top 20, will face the first of five ranked opponents when St. Mary's travels to Lexington, Virginia to take on No. 11 Washington & Lee University at 2:00. The 2007 season marks the first year of competition for Villa Julie (0-1) in the CAC.

SMCM's sophomore attacker Lauren Carrier (Crownsville, MD/Old Mill) led all players with six goals and eight points as she recorded a hat trick in each half.

The Seahawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind Carrier's hat trick and assist. Lauren Zegowitz got Villa Julie on the scoreboard at 11:46 with an unassisted goal. The two squads traded goals for the half's last 2:31 for a 7-3 Seahawk lead at halftime.

The second half started with back-to-back Mustang goals as Zegowitz and Brittany Connelly each found the back of the net in a span of 22 seconds. The scoring for the remainder of the game followed the pattern of two St. Mary's goals and then a VJC score until the 12:14 mark when SMCM had three straight.

Two Mustang goals sandwiched senior midfielder Katy Perry's (Hingham, MA/Hingham) third goal of the night to end the half.

Sophomore attacker Emily Norris (Timonium, MD/Dulaney) and freshmen midfielders Lea Gonzalez (Washington, DC/The Potomac School) and Nikki Yesalavage (Cranbury, NJ/The Peddie School) each scored a pair of goals for the Seahawks, while freshman attacker Kelsey Branch (Jarrettsville, MD/The John Carroll School) dished out two assists.

Carrier picked up five ground balls for the Seahawks, while senior midfielder Danielle Miller (Montville, NJ/Montville) won four draw controls. Zegowitz finished with a hat trick for Villa Julie.

Senior goalie Melissa Puzak (Arnold, MD/Broadneck) earned the win between the pipes, making nine stops. VJC's Katey Copsey took the loss with 12 saves in 55:43 minutes of action.

Box Score

2007-02-22