COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The 2020 campaign for the Regis University women's lacrosse team (1-0) started off with a 15-3 win over the Franklin Pierce University Ravens (0-1) on Friday evening. 
 
How It Happened: After allowing the Ravens to draw first blood with a goal 2:47 into the opening half, Regis exploded for 11 unanswered goals to take an 11-1 lead with less than nine minutes to go in the first half. FPU scored their second goal a little over a minute later to cut the Rangers' lead to nine goals. Neither team would score for a seven-minute stretch, but RU snuck in a goal eight seconds before the first half came to a close. 
 
The second half featured only four goals with Regis accounting for three of them. Sophomore Monica Looney scored the first goal of the second half on a free-position attempt at the 24:39 mark. No goals were scored until senior Jessica Berg scored her second goal of the contest with 6:04 to go in the game. The visiting Ravens got their third goal of the game, but RU put the nail in the coffin with senior Ali Vanek's fifth goal of the game with 1:44 on the clock. 
 
Game Notes: Vanek (5G, 1A) was the team leader with six points having assisted on one of Berg's second goal. Freshman Gabby Rothermund was outstanding in her collegiate debut, collecting a team-high five assists. Junior Kyleigh Peoples (2G, 1A), senior Andrea Macalalad (1G, 2 A) and freshman Maddy Frank (2G, 1A) all had three points in the season opener. The team caused 11 turnovers with junior Sarah Kate Dhom leading all players with three caused turnovers and freshman Morgan Smith adding two of her own. 
 
One of the biggest performances of the game came between the pipes for Regis where junior Elle Crawford made 12 saves and added 11 ground balls while allowing only three goals. The netminder was brilliant intercepting passes and scooping up loose balls around the net.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: The Regis University women's lacrosse team will head out to warmer weather in Florida for their next three games. The first game will be a March 1 contest against the Concordia - St. Paul University Golden Bears. Following that, the Rangers will battle the Florida Institute of Technology and Florida Southern College on March 1 and 3, respectively.