WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford women's lacrosse team dropped their first game of 2025 season falling to Eastern Connecticut State University by a 16-13 margin on Tuesday night. 
 
Rapid Recap:

• The Warriors jumped ahead 4-0 with two goals coming from Alexa Vizzini over the first six minutes. The Hawks got their first goal of the year as senior captain Meghan Smith (Orange, Conn.) finished home a free position goal. Smith would add the second goal as well for the Hawks coming with 5:31 to play in the first on a feed from junior Sara Costa (Shrub Oak, N.Y.). Hartford continued to climb back into the game two more scores over the next five minutes as sophomore Talei Ricketson (Centennial, Colo.) netted her first of the year followed by a third for Smith in the first quarter. Eastern Connecticut would snag the lead with 29 seconds to play in the first as they led 5-4 after one quarter. 
• The Hawks would jump in front early in the second quarter as sophomore Laurel McIntosh (West Kingston, R.I.) and sophomore Katie Graham (Colchester, Conn.) each scored their first goals of the season as the Hawks led 6-5 with 13:30 to play in the half. The Warriors would respond with a two-goal run of their own, but Hartford would answer to be in front 8-7 after freshman Kate Zonin (North Smithfield, R.I.) picked up collegiate goal number one followed by Costa scoring on an assist by Smith. Hartford would add a 3-2 run to close the first half with two scores for Ricketson and another for Smith as Hartford held a 11-9 lead into halftime.
• The third quarter was dominated by the Warriors as they closed the quarter with six unanswered scores. Avonlea LeBeau was the driving force of the offense with two goals in the period while Vizzini added a goal and two assists as Eastern Connecticut pushed the new lead to 15-11 headed into the final 15 minutes.
• Smith hit the back of the cage again to kick off the fourth quarter to try and spark a fourth quarter run for the Hawks. McIntosh finished a free position strike with 5:00 minutes to play as Hartford trailed 15-13, however the Warriors would hold on getting a final second score to win 16-13. 

Inside The Numbers:

• Smith netted a new career-high with nine points in the loss for the Hawks with five goals and four assists. She also had five draws and three ground balls. Ricketson tallied three goals and an assist. Costa also had a good game with a goal, an assist, four grounders and five draws. 
• Junior Samantha Ciaglo (Colchester, Conn.) led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers to go with two grounders. Graham added two caused turnovers with a goal and an assist. 
• In net sophomore Mandi Rivard (Vernon, Conn.) picked up the loss allowing 16 goals with eight saves.
• For the Warriors LeBeau led the way with six goals and eight draws. Vizzini added six points of her own with four goals and two assists. 
• The shots in the game were even with a slight 33-32 advantage for Eastern Connecticut, each team would score three times from a free position with the Warriors going 3-4, while the Hawks went 3-9.

Up Next:
Hartford will travel to New York this weekend to take on Vassar College in Poughkeepsie on Saturday with the opening draw at 1:00 PM. 

For the latest information on Hartford Athletics follow the Hawks on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.