ANDERSON, S.C. -- The women's lacrosse program opened the 2026 season with a narrow 11-10 loss to The University of Alabama in Huntsville, who comes into the season ranked No. 25 in the IWLCA Poll.
"We had to overcome a lot of obstacles in today's game," head coach
Nicole Voci said. "UAH is consistently solid. We can't wait to adjust and get back to it. It's a long season ahead. Looking forward to game two!"
The Chargers went up 2-0 in the first five minutes before senior
Alicia Cannon (Tarzana, Calif.) scored the opening goal for the Trojans in her first game back with the Black and Gold, on an assist from sophomore
Megan Muir (Bedford, N.H.).
The Trojans then went on a tear, scoring five unanswered through the beginning of the second quarter. Sophomore
Ellie Wilkins (Chuluota, Fla.) had a hat trick to start her sophomore season with two assists from junior
Ava Skeffington (Charlotte, N.C.).
Freshman
Chloe Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) opened her collegiate career in the run with her first goal, assisted by
Emma Toole.
The two teams would go back and forth into halftime with the Chargers adding three more with answers from Skeffington and Wilkins to put the Trojans up 7-5 going into the locker room.
The Chargers opened the second half with two goals early before a six-minute scoring drought for both teams.
Wilkins added her fifth of the day to give the Trojans another lead at 8-7, but the Chargers answered with two more to finish out the third quarter up 9-8.
Muir and Cannon scored the final two goals of the day for Anderson, but the Chargers held the Trojans scoreless through the final five minutes and put up two of their own to earn the 11-10 win.
The Trojans were efficient, with 15 of their 18 shots on goal.
UAH put away five of their eight free position shots while the Trojans were 0-0 from free position.
The Chargers had the edge on the draw with 15 to the Trojans' six. Anderson picked up 16 ground balls while the Chargers had 11. Both teams had two failed clears with Anderson going 18-20 and UAH going 13-15.
Graduate student
Rory Turner (Haverford, Pa.) had six saves and two ground balls in her first game with the Trojans.
Junior
Emma Toole (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) and
Sophie Shortino (Webster, N.Y.) each picked up two draw controls. Toole added two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Muir was big on both sides of the ball, adding three ground balls, three caused turnovers and one draw control to her three points.
The Trojans are back in action on Monday, Feb. 2 when they open South Atlantic Conference play on the road at Coker University at 4 p.m.
