The Toll Gate girls lacrosse team took home an eye-opening 16-8 win over rival Pilgrim on Tuesday night on the road.

Coming off a one-win season in 2024, the Titans are focused on rebounding and becoming a contender in Division II. Adeline Areson made her return on Tuesday after missing all of last season with a knee injury and would make her presence felt, leading the Titans with eight goals.

Toll Gate cruised to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and mounted an 8-0 advantage before Pilgrim got on the board in the second. Delanie Wheeler finished the day with three goals for Toll Gate while Aubrey Rubeira, Katie Pale and Isabelle Lafontaine also found the back of the cage. Lily Farrell led Pilgrim with three goals, followed by Lily Batchelor, Lyrah Lindman and Addison Mendoza who added a goal each.

“It was relieving. I was really nervous going into it, wasn’t sure if I was ready, but I was and we won. Teamwork is important and so is team morale. When we’re working together as a team it really elevates our game level,” said Wheeler, who was glad to see the team hit the ground running as it looks to climb the DII ranks. “I think we are being overlooked because of how we were last year. I think teams will start looking at us different now.”

“We feed off of each other, a lot of the girls don’t play lacrosse year-round so there was some rust, there was some frustration. Fortunately we shook it off and once we started moving the ball we began to flow,” added Areson, who stressed defense after the win. “Communicating on defense is important. We put some new players in, defense is where you win championships, so playing good defense and picking each other up when something goes wrong is important.”

Like Wheeler, Areson was unsure of how the season opener would go after a slow start in the preseason. In a stacked DII group, the Titans are hoping to build some early momentum with a large group of returners.

“I was a little skeptical coming in since we were rusty, but today changed my expectations, changed my mindset so I’m excited to see where the season goes,” Areson said. “It’s an even playing field in Division II, anyone can be beat, anyone can beat us. It’s going to come down to who wants it more and who wants to be (there at the end).”