SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Mar. 7, 2013) - Megan Doyle netted the game-winning goal with 2:30 remaining to lift the Western New England lacrosse team to a 15-14 come-from-behind win over Mount Holyoke in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium. With the victory, the Golden Bears improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Lyons suffer their first loss of the season, moving to 2-1 overall.
Trailing by an 8-5 margin after the first half of action, the Lyons mounted a comeback of their own, tallying four straight goals to grab a 9-8 advantage. Sophomore Kirsten Kilburn and first year Julia Bell (pictured) each tallied a goal and an assist during the flurry.
Western New England responded to tie the contest at 9-all, but back-to-back tallies from senior Molly Macdonald shifted the lead back to the visitors for an 11-9 margin with 19:08 to play. Jessica Scannapieco cut the deficit for the Golden Bears, but two more goals off the stick of Bell gave Mount Holyoke the 13-10 lead with just over 13 minutes left to play.
The Golden Bears then began their comeback as Scannapieco tallied, quickly followed by back-to-back goals by Kaitlynn Stevens to tie it at 13-all. With 8:18 remaining in the contest, Taylor Scialdone gave the home team the 14-13 lead, but Bell's sixth goal of the game tied it once again with 7:49 to play.
Doyle then won it for the Golden Bears as she converted a feed from Jessica Scannapieco to give WNE the go-ahead goal. The home team held on down the stretch despite worsening conditions to win it.
For Mount Holyoke, Bell netted a game-best six goals with an assist, while Kilburn and Macdonald each added three goals. Kilburn also had two assists. First year Catherine Ryan recorded a game-best four assists. In goal, senior Liz Malenfant recorded three saves through the first half, while sophomore Aune Mitchell suffered the loss, making one save during the second half.
Western New England saw Scannapieco tally five goals with two assists, while Stevens also had five goals with a helper. Doyle chipped in with three tallies on the evening. Between the pipes, Emily Castleman stopped two shots over 47:37 minutes, while Melissa Perry played the remaining 12:23, but did not make any saves.
For the game, Mount Holyoke held the advantage in shots (33-24) and ground balls (20-15).
The Lyons return to action on Saturday in a 12pm home contest against New England College at the MHC Turf Field. Western New England plays at Smith College on Saturday at 1pm.
