The women’s lacrosse team made the short trip across New Haven on Wednesday afternoon to face local rival Quinnipiac.

The Elis were able to come out on top in their first win of the season. Notching a big 19–12 win, they recovered from a tough 16-13 loss in last week’s match against Holy Cross.

“The key difference between this game and last game was our intensity from the start. We came out strong and kept that tempo throughout the whole game,” defender Flannery Carney ’16 said.

The Bulldogs (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) came out firing, looking to prevent the slow start that hurt them in their first game, and scored the first six goals of the contest. Although Quinnipiac (0-1, 0-0 NEC) was able to put some points on the board, it entered halftime down 12-8. The Bulldogs increased their lead in the beginning of the second half with three unanswered goals, and with 10 minutes left in the second half, the score read 18-9 and the contest was effectively over.

Of the Elis’ 17 players featured in the match, six registered points against the Bobcats. Sophomore midfielder Cathryn Avallone ’15 opened up her scoring account emphatically, registering five goals and three assists, while team captain Devon Rhodes ’13, returning top scorer, posted another multi-point game, with seven on nine shots. Attacker Jen DeVito ’14 (2-3-5), midfielder Erin Magnuson ’15 (2-2-4), attacker Kerri Fleishhacker ’15 (4-0-4) and midfielder Christina Doherty ’15 (0-1-1) also registered points on the day.

“I think another major take away from this game offensively is how good we can be at possession and then continue to score off of it,” DeVito said. “If we get long possessions each time we get the ball, it gives the defense more of a break and less time for the other team to score, and I think today was the first time that we really showed that side of us.”

Although Quinnipiac won the groundball battle and committed fewer fouls, the Elis recorded four more shots, three more draw control and three more clears than their Bobcat rivals.

“We’ve been focusing on upping our intensity and competition in practice all week and I think that it made a huge difference in how we performed,” Rhodes said. “We’ll continue to keep up the fast pace and high energy of our practices to prepare for Dartmouth.”

Seven Quinnipiac players registered points on the day, led by sophomore Kyra Ochwat (5-1-6) and junior Michaela Tinsley (4-0-4). In a bright spot for the Bobcats, senior Sarah Allen handed out two assists on the day to become the program’s all-time leader in assists with 112.

Yale has a chance to go for two straight wins this coming Saturday in the season home opener against Dartmouth.

“We have always had very close games with Dartmouth and this could be our year if we play as well as we did today, if not better,” DeVito said. “Dartmouth is a really strong team and I think this is our chance to set the standard for how good we want to be this season.”

No. 12 Dartmouth (1-0, Ivy 0-0) will travel to Yale after its Thursday matchup against New Hampshire. The Big Green, defending Ivy Tournament Champions, will be a challenge for the Bulldogs, who lost 9-8 in last season’s match.

The match will face-off at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Reese Stadium.a

FREDERICK FRANK