First-Place Scots Look to Maintain NCAC Lead

Hillary Darragh

Carrying a five-game win streak into this week, The College of Wooster is attempting to stay in first-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with two such games. Wooster will travel to western Pennsylvania Tuesday, April 15, to face Allegheny College (4-7, 2-1 NCAC) at 7 p.m. The Fighting Scots, who doubled-up Allegheny 14-7 last year, have never lost to the Gators in 19 all-time meetings. Then, Wooster will return to Carl Dale Memorial Field for the first of a three-game homestand to close the regular season on Saturday, April 19, when Denison University (3-7, 2-1 NCAC) visits for a 1 p.m. match-up. The two rivals played twice last spring, with Denison prevailing 14-13 in the regular season and then Scots gaining revenge via a 19-12 triumph in the NCAC Tournament semifinals.

Last Week: Wooster won three games by a combined score of 55-17, which pushes its record to 7-3 overall, including 3-0 in the NCAC.

On April 8, Hillary Darragh (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Twp.) scored a career-high five goals, all in the opening 20 minutes, as the Scots pounded non-conference foe Adrian College 19-4 at Carl Dale Memorial Field. Darragh set the tone, finding the back of the net just 16 seconds into the action and then adding the game’s second goal a few minutes later. While Darragh’s personal scoring streak came to an end, her teammates accounted for five more scores over a 4:28 stretch, giving Wooster a 7-0 cushion with less than 12 minutes having been elapsed. Two of those goals came from the stick of Cassie Brown (New Fairfield, Conn. / New Fairfield). Adrian interrupted the Scots’ first-half scoring run, only to see Darragh rip off three consecutive goals during a 1:27 time period. Wooster added three more before the half was over, resulting in a 13-1 advantage, and then primarily used its reserves in the second. Darragh’s five-goal outing came on just six shots. She was one of 13 Scot players to score goals, with Brown and Emily Meyer (Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) adding two apiece. Also of note, Taryn Higgins (Marblehead, Mass. / Marblehead) passed out a team-high three assists and Jamie Dannenberg (Framingham, Mass. / Framingham) had a solid outing in front of the net, making 11 saves.

On April 10, Wooster tied a single-game school record, scoring 26 goals during a 26-6 rout of visiting Oberlin College in a conference game at Carl Dale Memorial Field. It was 2-2 eight minutes into the action before the Scots’ offense exploded for seven goals over the next 3:28, with Carly Carey (Faribault, Minn. / Academy at Charlemont – Mass.), Darragh, and Higgins each scoring twice during that stretch. Leading 9-3, Wooster extended its run to 13-3 before 20 minutes had even elapsed in the first half, and it was 15-5 at the break. The Scots tacked on seven more goals to start the second half en route to the 20-goal win. Thirteen different players scored goals for Wooster, led by Darragh’s four. Carey, Higgins, Jill Lee (Newton, Mass. / Brimmer and May School), and Becca Worthington (St. Louis Park, Minn. / St. Louis Park) each recorded hat tricks, with Higgins adding two assists for a five-point day. Jess Baylor (Milton, Mass. / Noble and Greenough) also tallied two assists, giving her a four-point outing.

On April 12, the Scots picked up a key 10-7 triumph over host Kenyon College, as both teams had entered the match-up with undefeated conference records. Wooster was up 8-6 going into the final 10 minutes of regulation and then Higgins and Carey rose to the occasion with back-to-back unassisted goals for a four-goal cushion at the 5:46 mark. Kenyon had held early leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before the Scots outscored the Ladies 6-1 over the rest of the opening half for a 7-3 advantage. Kenyon got back into it, tallying the first two scores of the second, but Wooster eventually held off the comeback attempt. Individually, Darragh led the Scots again, this time netting four goals and passing out one assist, while Carey contributed three goals and one helper. On defense, Dannenberg was credited with 11 saves.

NCAC Player of the Week: Junior midfielder Hillary Darragh (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Twp.) was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week for women’s lacrosse. Over the three games, she combined for 13 goals on just 20 shots as well as one assist, six draw controls, and two caused turnovers.