Hack Attack! Corie Leads No. 23 CMS to Home Opening Win

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 23 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's lacrosse team opened their 2018 home slate with a meeting against the Rhodes Lynx. In a battle between two NCAA Tournament teams from last season, the Athenas emerged as the 20-8 victor under the lights on Zinda Field. Corie Hack (CMC) led all scorers on the night with seven goals on 11 shots.

With Hack leading the charge, a total of five different Athenas scored multiple goals on the night. Lauren Clubb (CMC), Hannah Graves (CMC), and Sally Abel (CMC) each scored three while Evan Murphy (CMC) tallied two and added an assist in the victory.

There were many strengths for the Athenas on Wednesday night, but their dominance on the draw control was noteworthy. The Athenas won 21 draw controls in the game against just seven from the Lynx. Emily Cohen (CMC) was especially strong on the draw, boxing out her defenders to grab nine draw controls in the game.

While the final score of Wednesday's game had the Athenas in front by a dozen goals, the first-half of the contest was a tightly contested battle. The Lynx opened the scoring four minutes in with a tally from Kendall Cunningham. CMS swiftly responded with goals from Allie Hill (CMC) and Clubb in the next two plus minutes to take a 2-1 lead.

Rhodes would take a 4-3 lead just a few minutes later, but the Athenas would respond with the first goal of the evening from Corie Hack to tie the game at 4-4 with 14:20 remaining in the half. Hack would strike for her second consecutive goal just under a minute later to take a 5-4 lead.

Over the next four minutes, CMS notched three more goals to build an 8-4 lead. Murphy, Clubb, and Emily Cohen found the back of the net to help the Athenas take the four-goal lead. Rhodes did not go down quietly. The Lynx scored a pair of goals before the end of the half to make it an 8-6 lead heading to the break.

After the breather, it was the Corie Hack show as the junior tallied five goals to help the Athenas pull away over the final 30 minutes. In addition to Hack's handful of goals, Hannah Graves scored three of her own in the second period.

Hack and Graves helped the Athenas score 10-straight goals to start the second-half. The burst helped CMS build an 18-6 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the game. The Lynx scored two goals in the final six minutes, but the Athenas' lead was too large to overcome and CMS earned a 20-8 victory.

After starting the season with four-straight games on the road, Wednesday's game starts a stretch of 10 games that will see that Athenas play on their home turf nine times.

The win moves the Athenas to 4-1 on the season. CMS will next take the field on Saturday when they host Albion at 1:00 p.m. on Zinda Field.