Although the UNH women’s lacrosse regular season doesn’t begin until around the end of February,  an unfortunate and terrible accident gave the Wildcats some motivation to pick up the sticks and rally together for an important purpose.
Over the summer, UMass Lowell women’s lacrosse players Noelle Lambert and Kelly Moran were riding a moped in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. They swerved off the road and hit and crashed into a truck while trying to get back onto the road.
Lambert and Moran both sustained severe injuries as a result of  the accident.
“[Lambert] lost her leg and [Moran] had substantial damage to her legs and a couple other injuries as well,” UNH women’s lacrosse head coach Sarah Albrecht said.
Once UNH heard the news, the coaching staff quickly went to work figuring out a way they could help. Seeing that both Lambert and Moran are New Hampshire natives, the conclusion was made that UNH would collaborate with fellow Granite State school Dartmouth College in a preseason lacrosse game as a part of a fundraising effort for the victims.
“We were as a staff  trying to think of the best way to do a fundraiser for them or help in any way possible,” Albrecht said. “We figured we would be able to do a game with Dartmouth…it kind of all fell together because they were New Hampshire kids as well.”

The “Live Free for a Cause” game took place on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the new Wildcat Stadium. During the event, the team sold beanie hats in an effort to raise money to go towards Lambert’s and Moran’s recoveries. You could buy a beanie at for 20 dollars, or donate directly to the cause with any amount you choose. The beanie hats were all sold out by the end of the event and Albrecht believes the fundraiser was a great sucess.
“It was a great game to watch for a scrimmage. We had a lot of Umass Lowell kids come up to watch the game which was awesome,” Albrecht said when asked about the success of the event. “I thought it was a great day, and we were able to sell out of those beanie hats too, so that was awesome,”
According to the America East website, one of the three pillars that creates “the complete student-athlete,” is leadership on and off the field. The Wildcats provided a great example of what it means to be the complete student athlete, with leadership in fundraising and caring for each other as an America East women’s lacrosse program. The Wildcats were able to raise [x] dollars to go towards the recovery process for both Lambert and Moran.
If you, or anyone you know is interested in donating to the cause, you can contact the UNH women’s lacrosse program located in the UNH Fieldhouse, or donate directly to Lambert’s Gofundme page. Over 74,000 dollars had already been raised by over 400 donations. For more information, visit gofundme.com and look up “Noelle Lamber’s Challenge to Run”