16-Goal First Half Leads Wooster to 22-7 Victory over Terriers in Season Finale

Heather Szymanski
Laura Papp

The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team capped the 2017 season with a 22-7 victory over Hiram College on Wednesday evening at Henry Field in Hiram, Ohio.

Wooster (11-5, 4-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) closed the regular season with at least 11 victories for the fifth time in the last six seasons and concluded the conference schedule with at least a .500 record for the 19th consecutive year.

Senior captain Heather Szymanski capped her collegiate career with her most productive season, tallying 52 goals and 15 assists to finish just outside the program's top 10 list in single-season points and goals while accruing a career total of 114 goals and 29 assists.

Against the Terriers (5-12, 0-8 NCAC) Wooster's offense clicked from the start, as the Black and Gold opened on a 5-0 run with contributions from four different players within six minutes of the starting whistle.

Later on, the Scots tallied four of the next six goals before closing the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 16-3 lead heading into the break.

Three Scots – first-year Jenny Grossmann, sophomore Laura Papp, and Szymanski – each recorded first-half hat tricks, as Grossmann went on the finish with a game-high five goals while Papp and Szymanski each ended with a co-game-high six points. Grossmann's five goals marked a season-high for the standout first-year attacker.

After logging just seven goals and seven assists in 12 games a year ago, Papp's 2017 performance level increased exponentially. The sophomore ended the year with 48 goals and 25 assists for 73 points, marking the ninth-highest single-season point total in program history.

In the second half, three more Scots logged individual hat tricks, as junior Michaela Lawrence tacked on two, followed by respective third tallies from both sophomore Jordan Stone and junior Helena Enders.

Sophomore Emma Lawrence added two goals on three shots to help the Scots eclipse the 20-goal mark for the fifth time this season while classmate Megan Healy logged five caused turnovers, one less than her season high. Between the pipes, first-year Emma Hambright finished with a pair of saves.

As a team, the Scots finished the season with 264 goals, the third-highest season total in program history.