Despite five goals from Miranda Jassil (North Branford, Conn.), the Albertus Magnus women's lacrosse team opened the 2015 season with a 13-7 loss to Johnson State College on a snowy Sunday afternoon in New Haven.
Jassil registered five goals off of six shots in the loss, while junior goalie Maria Case (West Haven, Conn.) tallied four saves in 60 minutes of play.
Johnson State was led by Shannon Rooney who also registered five goals on five total shots. Teammate Kylie Aither added four goals and two assists in the non-league victory.
Johnson State went ahead 1-0 early, just 41 seconds into the contest, as Nichole Weeks ran half the length of the field to score the unassisted goal.
Albertus' Jenny Luna (Brentwood, N.Y.) tied the game with a free-position shot before Jassil gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead 16 seconds later on her own free-poistion shot.
Rooney answered with back-to-back goals to give Johnson State a 3-2 advantage. Jassil's second goal of the day tied the score at three before Week's scored goal to give Johnson State a one-goal lead.
Johnson State added two more goals before intermission to head into the halftime break with a 6-3 lead.
Aither scored her second goal 2:30 into the second half as Johnson State took a 7-3 lead. Albertus battled back as Jassil scored back-to-back goals, including a finish off of a great pass from teammate Kelly Kennedy (North Branford, Conn.). But four unanswered Johnson State goals, to make the score 11-5, clinched the non-league victory.
The Falcons and Rooney traded goals in the final minutes of play as Jassil tallied her fifth and final goal of the day before freshman Nikki Kern (Wallingford, Conn.) scored her first career goal.
Weeks finished the day with three goals on a game-high seven shots for Johnson State, while goalie Samantha Jackson made four saves in net.
Albertus will return to action on Tuesday when the Falcons' host Wilkes in a non-conference match-up.