WELLESLEY, Mass. – Led by a strong effort from its senior class, the Wellesley College lacrosse team came out on top of a high-scoring shootout, topping NEWMAC-foe Mount Holyoke, 17-14, on Saturday afternoon in Wellesley. The win improves Wellesley to 5-4 on the season, 1-1 in NEWMAC play, while Mount Holyoke moves to 6-2 overall, 1-1 in the NEWMAC.
Wellesley's class of 2013 led the way on senior day, as Elizabeth Clemetson, Meagan Fuchs, Meredith Roy, Allison Robbin, and Alyssa Andres, combined for 12 goals, three assists, 10 draw controls and two caused turnovers.
In a tightly matched affair, the final outcome came down to a battle of possession. Each team had 15 turnovers, but Wellesley captured a 19-13 advantage in draw controls, which proved to be the difference.
20 total goals were scored in the first half, as Wellesley's Roy and Robbins had three each and Mount Holyoke's Julia Bell and Kirsten Kilburn also added three scores of their own. The Lyons opened with a 3-1 advantage just four minutes into play, but Wellesley quickly turned it around, going on a 5-1 run to take a 6-4 lead at the 17-minute mark.
Mount Holyoke cut the lead to 6-5 on a Kilburn score at 16:59, but Wellesley answered with goals from Claire Canty and Robbins in a 30-second span to go up, 8-5. The Lyons then scored four of the next five goals, to tie the game at 9-9, backed by two scores from Bell and a goal each from Molly Macdonald and Kilburn. The Blue, however, closed out the half with goals from Fuchs and Robbins to carry an 11-9 edge into the break.
The second half went back and forth with neither team leading by more than three goals. The Blue opened up the scoring just 17 seconds into play with a Robbins goal, but Bell answered for Mount Holyoke, just 10 seconds later, making it 13-11 Wellesley. Two minutes later, Robbins and Bell again scored matching goals, increasing the score to 13-11 Wellesley with 26:09 to play.
The Blue went up by three at the 25-minute mark, with a goal from Roy, but Mount Holyoke answered with two straight to cut the lead to 14-13. Bell scored again for the Lyons during the stretch, while Naomi Miller's free position shot at 17:15 whittled the Wellesley lead to just one.
Ahead 14-13, Wellesley's Robbins and Meghan Peterson scored at the 11:20 and 9:47 marks to push the Blue advantage to 16-13. Mount Holyoke got one back with a Bell score at 8:57, but Wellesley was successful playing keep away over the final few minutes of play, with Robbins scoring at the buzzer to set the final to 17-14 Wellesley.
Robbins ended the afternoon with a career-high seven goals, and also added two draw controls. Roy finished with four goals and an assist, while tying a team-high with three draw controls. Canty had an eight-point game with two goals and six assists, while also adding three draw controls. Rounding out the offense for the Blue, Peterson had two goals and an assist, Clemetson had two assists, and Brit Mscisz and Fuchs added a goal each.
On the other side of the ball for the Blue, Andres recorded two caused turnovers, while Nicole Hatem contributed three draw controls. Earning the win in goal, Tya Logan recorded eight saves for Wellesley.
Bell paced Mount Holyoke with seven goals and an assist for eight total points, while also adding a pair of draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. Kilburn finished the game with three goals and a team-high five draw controls, while Macdonald scored twice and added an assist. Brianne Phelan and Catherine Ryan collected two points each, while Miller added a goal in the effort.
Rounding out the Mount Holyoke box score, Miller picked up three ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover, while Lindsey Kanno had three ground balls and a caused turnover. Liz Malenfant posted up 11 saves in goal for the Lyons.
Wellesley is back in action on Wednesday, hosting Eastern Connecticut State at 4:30pm. Mount Holyoke will next play on Thursday at Western Connecticut State in a 6:00pm game.
