FRANKLIN, Mass. – April 12, 2023 – The Dean College women's lacrosse team dropped a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game to the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), 15-7, at Grant Field Wednesday afternoon.

Dean (5-7, 4-5 GNAC) will celebrate senior day on Saturday with a 1 p.m. GNAC contest against Albertus Magnus. USJ (8-5, 4-5 GNAC) returns home on Saturday to also celebrate senior day with a 1 p.m. game against Colby-Sawyer.

Senior Maire Brown (Huntington, N.Y.) recorded a hat trick for the eighth time this season to lead Dean. Four other Bulldogs got into the scoring column with one tally. Sophomore Natalie Peterson (Hudson, Mass.) registered an assist, three caused turnovers, three ground balls and four draw controls. Senior Sierra Cardenas (Warwick, R.I.) picked up a game best five ground balls.

The GNAC's leading goal scorer Makenzie Dinger (Hingham, Mass.) finished the game with six goals and three assists to lead USJ. She added team highs of four ground balls and four caused turnovers. Junior Lauryn Wilks (Hartford, Conn.) and graduate student Ashley Rufo (Pittsfield, Mass.) had three goals apiece.  

First-year goalie Allie Stockwell (Burrillville, R.I.) had 10 saves for Dean. First-year Colleen Stringer (Point Lookout, N.Y.) made an impressive 19 saves to earn the victory.

Each team scored a pair in the first quarter with all four goals coming from different players.

The game continued to see-saw in the second as the teams traded the first four goals to make the score 4-4. Sophomore Haley Gaunt (Johnston, R.I.) then scored on a pass from Peterson with 2:25 left in the half to give Dean a 5-4 lead heading into the break.

USJ turned things around in the third quarter by outscoring Dean 6-1. Dinger had three goals, while Rufo scored twice to spark the rally.

The Blue Jays carried their offensive pressure into the final quarter where they would score five more times and hold the Bulldogs to one goal for the 15-7 final.