Panthers Women’s Lacrosse Routed In Season Finale

By Brandon Cruz

The Panthers Women’s Lacrosse team (0-12) fell to the United States Merchant Marine Academy (10-2) 25-1, losing their final game of the regular season on April 23.

Panthers walking with each other after a goal. (Photo by Brandon Cruz)

Sophomore communications major Annelise Durkin scored the only goal for the Panthers in the first period, while junior psychology major Riley O’Shea tallied a shot on goal. Senior Gianna Russo for the Mariners led both teams in scoring with six goals, while senior Lauren Jablonowski tallied six assists.

Panthers Head Coach Jasmine Sitti reflected on this season — the team's first winless campaign since 2021 — and spoke about some of the adversity they faced along the way.

“It was a tough year,” Sitti said. “We struggled with some injuries, concussions, things like that, but I’m really proud of my team and all the things that they worked on.”

Durkin acknowledged some of the differences between coming in as a freshman last year and how the season turned out for the Panthers.

“As a sophomore, it was really different,” Durkin said. “As a freshman, I was coming in, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. This year has been hard for us, but as a team, we really worked well together and accomplished little goals within the season.”

Azli Gumusgoz pushing down the field. (Photo by Brandon Cruz)

The Mariners, riding an eight-game winning streak, clinched another playoff berth. Head Coach Kyle Simensky emphasized the importance of staying focused as the postseason approached.

“We just wanted to make sure we were sharp getting ready for the playoffs next week,” Simensky said. “We wanted to play with some confidence, move the ball offensively, play good defense, and sharpen up.”

With home-field advantage still at play for the Mariners, Jablonowski wants to continue to stay focused 

“It’s going to be a tough game on Friday,” Jablonowski said. “But it’s an exciting game. Those are the games we want to play. We don’t take any team lightly, so we’re going to take that aggression and take everything we’re learning and working on in practice and apply it on Friday.”

Despite the tough season the Panthers had, freshman history major Ashanty Peralta found much to enjoy in her first year with the team.

“I just had fun with everything,” Peralta said. “I tried challenging myself with this new sport that I’m playing.”

“Yes, we lost a lot, but we are a new team with people who’ve never played lacrosse before,” she continued. “Getting this far in the season means a lot.”

Senior film major Amani Jamal commended the team’s effort and passion throughout the year, no matter what the results were.

“I liked that everyone still had a passion for playing,” Jamal said. “Even the new players were showing up to practice at 7 a.m. It was nice that throughout games, everyone would still try and work on something, no matter the score.”