CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Despite a combined 14 goals from junior captain Kirsten Kilburn and sophomore Julia Bell, the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team could not complete a comeback, falling 22-19 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon.
The Lyons move to 8-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play, while the Engineers improve to 11-5 with a 4-3 mark in the NEWMAC. The two teams will meet again on Wednesday as MIT, the fourth-seed, hosts MHC, the fifth-seed, in Quarterfinal action of the NEWMAC Tournament. The Lyons secured their spot in the playoffs following Wellesley's loss at Springfield. MHC holds the head-to-head advantage over the Blue following an 11-9 victory on April 5th.
MIT held a 13-10 lead after the opening half of action and continued to add to the advantage with three straight goals, including two from Hannah Levy in the first four minutes, to make it a 16-10 lead.
Mount Holyoke responded, tallying three goals in less than two minutes, including two straight off the stick of senior captain Brianne Phelan, to cut the deficit to 16-13 with 22:24 to play. The Engineers countered as Isabella DiDio scored, but tallies from Bell and Kilburn closed the gap back to three (17-15) with 18:40 left on the clock.
Following another MIT tally, senior captain Naomi Miller and Kilburn each scored, bringing the score to 18-17, but the Engineers took advantage down the stretch. MIT recorded four of the final five goals, including two on the free position from Erica Du to seal the victory.
It was a wild first half that saw the visiting Lyons post a 2-0 lead behind goals from Bell and Kilburn to get things going. MIT quickly struck back with four straight to grab the 4-2 lead and later saw Kira Schott record three straight to make it a 9-4 advantage.
Despite four goals from Bell over the final 9:23 of the first half, the Lyons could not even things up as the Engineers took the 13-10 lead into halftime.
Levy led MIT in scoring, recording seven goals with a game-best four assists. DiDio added five goals, while Schott chipped in with four goals, an assist and six draw controls. In goal, Candice Kaplan made eight saves.
For MHC, Kilburn finished with eight goals and a game-best 11 draw controls. Bell added six goals and two assists to go along with four draw controls, while Miller and Phelan each tallied two goals. In the cage, sophomore Katherine Kayser-Hirsh made three saves before giving way to first year Mariesa Mazzone, who did not make any stops over 8:07 of action.
