GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro College women's lacrosse team opened up their 2017 season with a victory over visiting Berry College on Saturday, 8-6.
 
Berry scored the game's first goal just 2-minutes into the game before Laine Walston was able to score off an assist from Natalie Ritchey.  That would be the recurring theme for the Pride going forward.
 
The Vikings were able to respond and take another lead scoring with 21:18 remaining in the first half.
 
Ritchey added her second of six assist on the day when she found Kelsey Cenate in front of the net to tie the game at two.
 
The Walston and Ritchey combo gave the Pride their first lead of the day with 8:58 to play in the half.
 
Ritchey would then score an unassisted goal 5 minutes later to extend the Greensboro lead to 4-2.
 
However, Berry was able to respond right back two minutes later.
 
 Walston then scored her third goal of the game off another Ritchey assist with 11 seconds remaining in the half to send the Pride into halftime with a 5-3 lead.
 
The Vikings would come out on a mission at the beginning of the second half, tying the game at five with 23:36 remaining.
 
However, Greensboro responded with three unanswered goals to take a 8-5 lead before going on to win 8-6. Devan Macheras, Ritchey, and Walston each accounted for one goal during the run.
 
 
Walston had a team-high four goals, while Ritchey finished with a team-high six assists and seven shots on the day. Kianna Anderson got her first win of the year in net, while making four saves.
 
"We started out a bit slow," Head Coach Christie Hebert said. "However, with it being our first game of the season we had to get all of the nerves out of the way.
 
 "The dynamic of this team is the best yet.  Today we played as a team, and we won as a team. I am very excited to coach these 14 girls for the rest of the season."
 
The Pride women are back in action at 1 p.m. Saturday when they travel to Lynchburg College.  For more information on Greensboro College women's lacrosse, please continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.