Virginia – Alma College Women's Lacrosse opened their 2025 season last week with a trip to Virginia. The Scots returned home with wins in two out of three games. Alma defeated Sweet Briar and Eastern Mennonite, before falling to Virginia Wesleyan.

Alma 20, Sweet Briar 4
Alma's first game of the season came against Sweet Briar College. The Scots came out hard and fast in the opening minutes of the game. Sarah Bollinger scored the first goal of the season with 13:21 to go in the opening quarter. The goal gave Alma a lead that they would never relinquish. 20 seconds later, Briar-Rose Mackey found Kirsten Browne to make it 2-0, and Browne went on to score four more goals, her fifth of the game being assisted by Maya Durham, her first collegiate point. With Alma leading 6-0, MaKayla Kozal found the back of the net twice, split by Kennedy Kalish's first career goal to make it 9-0. Browne and Kalish each tallied again interrupted by SBC's first goal of the game, to give Alma an 11-1 lead after the first.

In the second, Alma piled on three more goals, with Kylie Lewis scoring her first of the season, followed by Browne netting two more for the visitors. Alma led 14-2 at halftime. Mackey scored a hattrick in the third quarter to push the Alma lead to 17-3 after three quarters. The fourth quarter saw Grace Doherty and Makenna Pobocik score their first career goals, split up by one more marker from Browne to punctuate a 20-4 victory.

Browne led the scoring with nine goals, also leading the helpers with three assists. Mackey recorded a game high nine groundballs, also causing a team high four turnovers. Sarah Bollinger collected 11 draw controls. Alexis Norko (1-0) made one save in the win.
 
Alma 14, Eastern Mennonite 11
In game two, the Scots took on the Royals of Eastern Mennonite. Alma opened the scoring in the first, with Bollinger scoring just over 90 seconds into the game. EMU answered immediately, and it took seven minutes for Lewis to reclaim the lead for the Scots on a Kozal assist. The Royals once again tied moments later, and it was Mackey who would put Alma up 3-2 with 4:35 to play in the opening period. The home side was able to score twice in the final three minutes to take a 4-3 lead into the break.

EMU scored again to open the quarter, pushing their lead to 5-3. However, a pair of goals from Browne leveled things at 5-5 with 12:06 to go, and it was Lewis from Kozal once more to give the visitors a 6-5 lead. EMU responded, and the final four minutes of the half went scoreless to bring the teams to a 6-6 tie at halftime.

Eastern scored the opening goal of the second half, and it was Rileigh McGeorge from Kylie Lewis who answered for Alma. With the teams unable to get any breathing room, the Royals took an 8-7 lead with 7:41 to play in the period, only for Alma to rip off a 3-0 scoring run thanks to goals from Mackey, Kalish, and Browne. Alma led 10-8 after three quarters.

Opening the fourth quarter, McGeorge and Mackey gave Alma the first lead of the game that was more than two goals at 12-8. After an opposition goal, Kozal scored twice to put things out of reach, and a last ditch effort wasn't enough for EMU to keep Alma from running out 14-10 winners.

Mackey and Browne led the Alma scoring with three goals apiece. Lewis and Kozal each recorded two assists. Bollinger collected 8 ground balls, and Browne grabbed 8 draw controls. McGeorge also collected four draw controls in the game, making her the all-time leader in draw controls for Alma College Women's Lacrosse. Norko (2-0) made 15 saves in the win.

Virginia Wesleyan 20, Alma 4
In their third game, Alma took on the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins proved a tough opponent, scoring the first nine goals of the game. The hosts led 6-0 after the first, and 9-1 after the second. The Scots got on the board thanks to a goal from Browne with 12 seconds left in the first half. Kalish scored early in the third quarter, with the Marlins leading 16-2 after three. Mackey and Browne each found the net in the final period, with the final score reading 20-4.

Browne led the scoring for Alma with two goals, also causing five turnovers and collecting six groundballs. Cassidy Smith (0-1) made four saves in the loss, Norko made five saves in second half relief.

Alma returns home at 2-1, looking forward to taking on Madonna University on Wednesday.