Nor'easters Storm Past Vikings

BIDDEFORD, Maine – Salem State women's lacrosse opened their season on the road tonight when they traveled to Biddeford, Maine to take on the University of New England (UNE) in a non-conference matchup. After 60 minutes of action, the high-powered Nor'easter offense was able to secure the 18-5 victory over the Vikings, dropping them to 0-1 on the young season.

The Vikings were spearheaded by Taylor Sujko (Revere, Mass.) who notched five goals while Jenna Wells (Revere, Mass.) added one of her own in the contest. Carson Reidy (Burlington, Mass.) made 10 saves in tonight's effort.

Abby McHallam (Medway, Mass.) and Morgan White (Rochester, N.H.) paced the Nor'easters with five and four goals, respectively, while Barrie Guertin (Bow, N.H.) contributed with three goals and one helper in the non-conference win. 

How it Happened:

• The Nor'easters struck first after a successful clear resulted in a McHallam goal, giving her squad the 1-0 tilt just three minutes into the game. Six minutes later the Vikings evened the score after Sujko was able to convert a pass from Morgan White to bring the game to one apiece.
• The stalemate would only last two minutes as the Nor'easters reclaimed their one-goal lead before McHallam added two more to her tally to close out the first period with UNE ahead 4-1.  
• The home team would tack on two more goals before Sujko landed her second goal of the game off a free position shot to bring the score to 6-2 with 7:46 to play in the second stanza.
• Over the next two minutes the Nor'easters would find the back of the net four times to force the Vikings' hand at a timeout with the scoreboard reading 10-2 in favor of the home team. Coming out of the regroup, the Vikings secured the draw control which would lead to Sujko notching a first half hat trick when she was able to sneak one past the UNE goalie with 5:10 to play in the second. Unfortunately, the remaining five minutes was all Nor'easters, which allowed them to enter the break with the sizeable 13-3 edge.
• UNE landed their 14^th goal of the game just over three minutes into the half before Sujko found teammate, Wells, for her first goal of the game, which brought the score to 14-4 with 8:09 left in the third period. The Nor'easters were able to add one more goal to their total to enter the final 15 minutes of play with a comfortable eleven goal (15-4) lead.
•  Three minutes into the fourth period Sujko was able to convert her second free position shot of the game to give the Vikings their fifth goal of the game before the Nor'easter reclaimed their 11-goal (16-5) cushion on a free position shot of their own. UNE would add two more goals before taking the eventual 18-5 victory over the Vikings.