South Hadley, Mass. - February 26, 2020 - Sophomore attacker Abby Baldwin (Florence, Mass.) produced seven points and secured seven draw controls en route to the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team's 17-16 win over Western New England University on Wednesday night at the MHC Turf and Track Complex.
The Lyons improved to 2-0 on the season, marking the first time since 2013 that Mount Holyoke College has won back-to-back games to start a year. In the loss, the Golden Bears fall to 0-2. The Lyons held the edge on shots, 39-36, and scooped up 16 ground balls to Western New England's 12. Senior goalkeeper Mia Wysocki (Longmeadow, Mass.) was impressive in between the pipes and recorded 12 saves in the victory, none more crucial than her win-preserving stop at the end of regulation.
Baldwin produced seven points on five goals and two assists to lead the Lyons, while sophomore attacker Caroline Flynn (Williamstown, Mass.) notched four goals and added one assist. Additionally, senior captain Julianna Rankin (Annapolis, Md.) stuffed the stat sheet with two goals, two assists, three ground balls, three draw controls and one caused turnover.
Following a pair of goals by sophomore attacker Allie Brown (Burlington, Vt.) and a free-position conversion by senior attacker Kelly Hammond (Hartland, Vt.), Mount Holyoke College leaped out to a 3-1 lead with 22:57 to play in the first half. Under a minute later, Western New England's senior midfielder Katilyn Hutter (Stamford, Conn.) scored on a free-position opportunity with the advantage to bring the game back to within one. The Lyons would answer with four-consecutive goals over a 3:12 span, including a pair of markers from Baldwin, giving the Lyons a 7-2 advantage with 18:05 on the clock.
Western New England sophomore attacker Hannah Jarvis (Westfield, Mass.) broke the nearly seven-minute scoring drought with a free-position goal at the 15:18 mark of the first half, cutting the Lyons' cushion to four. Mount Holyoke College and the Golden Bears would then both score a pair of goals, before Flynn found the back of the net with 16 seconds remaining, sending the Lyons into the half with a 10-5 lead.
Western New England stormed back out of the break as senior attacker Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) would control the draw and score just 20 seconds into the half, kicking off a three-goal run for the Golden Bears over a span of 6:13, cutting the Mount Holyoke College lead down to two with the hosts leading 10-8 with 23:47 to play.
With the Lyons holding on to a 13-9 lead with 18:31 remaining, Western New England erupted for three-consecutive goals in just over two minutes to cut the Lyons' advantage to one, before junior attacker Meryl Phair (Stockbridge, Mass.) assisted on Baldwin's fifth tally of the night, providing the Lyons with a 14-12 edge with 14:34 remaining.
The Golden Bears would take their first lead since the early goings of the contest with 10:12 to play following another string of three-straight goals coming from three different Western New England scorers.
Rankin then found the twine on an unassisted bid to tie the game at 15 apiece with 6:58 remaining. Western New England first-year attacker Kylie Buchanan (Westfield, Mass.) answered with a wrap-around tuck at the 5:10 mark, once again granting the visitors a one-goal advantage down the stretch. Trailing 16-15, Phair scored her first goal of the game on a free-position try on the advantage, knotting up the contest for the third time in the final 10:37.
At the 3:00 mark, Rankin rolled right from behind the Golden Bear cage and found a wide-open Flynn for an easy catch-and-finish, which proved to be the game-winner. From there, the Mount Holyoke College defense would allow just one shot on net for the remainder of the contest, which was stopped by Wysocki to seal the victory.
The Lyons look to remain unbeaten this Saturday, February 29 in their first road contest of the season against Bridgewater State University at 12 p.m. on Swensen Field.
Mount Holyoke College is back in action this Wednesday, February 26 as they host Western New England University at 5 p.m at the MHC Turf and Track Complex.
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