Aug. 19, 2016
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette women's soccer team kicked off its 2016 campaign with a convincing 4-0 victory over Delaware State on Friday evening on Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium.
Senior Melissa Lynskey posted two goals and an assist for the Maroon and White, while classmates Joanna Scotti and Kaelin King notched the other two tallies. King also chipped in with two assists, and sophomores Gabrielle Martone and Alex Stanford, along with senior Julia Wescott, recorded helpers in the victory.
Lafayette, coming off an 8-7-1 overall record a year ago, the program's first winning season since 2011, got off to a fast start as Lynskey, King and Martone linked up for the game's first goal in just the second minute.
Martone stepped in front of a passing lane at midfield and played a long ball up and across the field for King, who was making a run up the left side. Last year's Second-Team All-Patriot League selection moved toward goal and played a shot to the far side that Lynskey was able to get on the end of and slot into the back of the net for the opening tally.
That goal immediately put confidence and momentum on the home bench as the team cruised to a dominating 20-4 effort in shots on the game and forced its goalkeepers into just two saves on the night.
After a couple good chances in the seventh and 10th minutes, the second marker came in the 31st as King worked in from the left side and made a move toward the near post. Instead of trying a tough-angle shot, she played a perfectly-weighted ball across the goal mouth to a waiting Lynskey on the far side, who had no trouble putting it away.
"I love playing with Kaelin," Lynskey said. "I think we just read each other so well and we're both similar players. I think that chemistry is very visible."
King got on the board for herself just five minutes later, this time linking up with Stanford to help the sophomore earn her first career point. Stanford worked the ball down the left and slid a through-ball to King on the opposite side of goal for the finish.
The game went into the break with the Leopards on top by a 3-0 score and a pair of seniors added one more insurance tally midway through the second stanza.
Off a brilliant corner service from Wescott onto the far side of the six-yard box, Lynskey played a short volley to Scotti waiting in the middle. Scotti placed a hard shot off the left hand of the diving Delaware State keeper and into the right netting for the fourth goal of the game.
That's where the game would stay through the final buzzer as Lafayette capped off a season-opening 4-0 win. The victory marks the seventh straight opener without a defeat for the Maroon and White and the fourth straight win after a draw with UMBC in 2012.
Lafayette returns to action on Sunday, battling with Siena at 2 p.m.
