SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Apr. 2, 2011) – First year midfielder Naomi Miller exploded for career highs of four goals and one assist to lift the Mount Holyoke College women's lacrosse team to a 15-12 triumph over MIT this afternoon at the Mount Holyoke Turf Field. With their first NEWMAC win of the year, the Lyons halted a three game slide and improved to 4-5 on the year. It was their first victory over MIT since the 2003 season. The Engineers had come out on top in each of the previous eight meetings between the programs.

Seven players recorded goals for Mount Holyoke, which finished with a 16-13 advantage in draw controls. Senior midfielder Vika Planson and first year attacker Liz Randolph each tallied three goals, while sophomore midfielder Lindsey Kanno found the back of the net twice. It was Planson's first career hat trick and Randolph's fourth of the year.

Mount Holyoke's remaining strikes came from first year midfielder Brianne Phelan, senior midfielder Georgia Markell and junior attacker Alex Crean. Markell came up with five draw controls, while junior midfielder Hilary Bombard added four draw controls and four ground balls.

MIT was paced by first year attacker Kaitlyn Nealon, who notched a hat trick. Senior attacker Erica Little amassed two goals and two assists, while junior midfielder Katie Kauffman, senior attacker Kelly Duncan and senior midfielder Stephanie Leger chipped in with two tallies apiece.

After falling behind 4-0 in the early going, Mount Holyoke erupted for five straight goals over a span 6:50 to grab its first lead of the game. Five different Lyons found the net during the spurt, which was capped off by Crean at the 11:02 mark. The teams entered the intermission knotted up at 6-6. Miller scored two of her four goals before the break. Duncan also netted a pair of the Engineers.

Back-to-back strikes by Nealon and Leger put MIT back in front 8-6 four minutes into the second stanza. The guests enjoyed a 10-8 cushion after Kauffman's second tally at the 21:34 mark.

From there, it was all Mount Holyoke. The Lyons racked up five straight goals to gain control of the contest. Miller got the rally started with a pair of goals in an 11 second span, and Randolph followed with two of her own. Planson then provided the exclamation point with 11:49 remaining in regulation, when she scored off a nifty feed from Miller to put the hosts ahead 13-10.

Mount Holyoke led by as many as four goals down the stretch.

The Lyons received an outstanding performance from sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Theophilos, who piled up a career best 13 saves en route to her fourth win of the year. At the other end, first year Sarah Ritter made five stops for MIT, which finished with a 33-24 edge in the shot column. The Engineers entered the day riding a three game winning streak.

Mount Holyoke (4-5, 1-1 NEWMAC) will put the finishing touches on a three game homestand next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against Wheaton College. Meanwhile, MIT (5-3, 1-1 NEWMAC) is slated to visit Framingham State University for a non-conference tilt on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.