Pitt women’s lacrosse’s regular season came to a close this past Wednesday with a fourth straight win. The Panthers defeated Robert Morris in the “city game,” 15-10 at Highmark Stadium.
After exchanging goals in the first quarter, the first period finished tied at three. However, the Panthers took control in the second, outscoring the Colonials 4-2 to take a 7-5 lead at halftime. A dominant third quarter from Pitt saw them score six goals and increase their lead to 13-6 going into the final quarter. Robert Morris would trim the deficit with four fourth-quarter goals, but the Panthers padded their lead with two goals to close out the 15-10 win.
With a packed crowd filled with local youth girls’ lacrosse teams, head coach Emily Boissonneault was proud to present such a product.
“This is definitely an event we’re going to put on for years to come,” Boissonneault said. “We want to keep inspiring the girls here. We want the players to grow up wanting to be a part of this program, and I think we did a great job promoting both programs and the sport of lacrosse today.”
Pitt closed out the regular season with their first winning season in program history. The Panthers also finished with four ACC wins, a new single-season conference record for the program.
“We pretty much hit every milestone that we could have hit this season,” Boissonneault said. “Highest-ranked win, being ranked ourselves, four ACC wins. We’ve also had multiple players hit season and career highs. We are putting ourselves in an incredible position to compete.”
A season of highlights for the Panthers saw junior attacker Avery Moon set both the single-season points record as well as become the all-time program leader in points. Junior defender Aidan Carr set the single-season program record for the second year in a row with the most draw controls at an 85% win rate.
Junior defender Megan Sheridan closed out the season with a record in caused turnovers, with 39. Senior goalkeeper Molly Cain also became the Panthers’ all-time leader in saves this season, with over 300 stops.
“It’s been an honor to be a part of this team this year,” Cain said. “This has been the best team I’ve ever been a part of.”
Going along with their on-field accolades, two Panthers were honored at this year’s Panthers’ Choice Awards. Graduate midfielder Maureen McNierney was awarded the James Connor Comeback Player of the Year Award, while senior defender Gracie Kahoun was given the prestigious Blue-Gold award and will forever be engraved in stone on the historic Varsity Walk outside the Cathedral of Learning.
When asked about her collegiate career coming to a close, Kahoun had nothing but praise for her four-year experience at Pitt.
“They are my best friends,” Kahoun said. “That was a special moment finishing out on a win here with the same stadium we’ve been at all four years.”
Kahoun also took a moment to acknowledge the crowd and support that was received during the game and across the season.
“I love seeing all the girls,” Kahoun said. “I am also from areas where lacrosse wasn’t super booming, and so to see Pittsburgh as a city buy-in, and to see Pitt and RMU buy in to grow the community, just means the world. Because the more lacrosse players we have, the better the world gets.”