SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team's stout defensive effort kept the Lyons close to visiting Clark University, but the Cougars prevailed 13-5 in a competitive and contentious NEWMAC game Saturday on the MHC Turf.
Clark (7-7, 3-5 NEWMAC) took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and held off a feisty Mount Holyoke (1-12, 0-6 NEWMAC) side the rest of the way.
Junior Ella Phillips (Sandwich, Mass.) scored twice and added four draw controls, two caused turnovers and two ground balls for the Lyons. Sophomore Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) returned from a one-game absence due to injury and tallied her 30th goal of the season, to go with one assist.
Erin Lucas scored four times and Elizabeth Liakos added three goals and an assist for Clark. Sophie Didier had two goals and an assist, and Elizabeth Cacciapaglia had a goal, two assists, four ground balls and a game-high five drawn controls.
Four different Cougars -- Lucas, Kami Labella, Didier and Liakos -- scored in the first 10 minutes of the game as they seized a crucial early lead.
Junior Madison Millyan (Winchester, Mass.) found Phillips open in front of Clark's goal to put Mount Holyoke on the scoreboard at 4-1 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.
Mount Holyoke closed the deficit to three goals two more times in the second quarter, with the help of a 5-0 advantage in draw controls. Mount Holyoke won 13 of 22 draws in the game, winning the draw control battle for the first time this season against a NEWMAC opponent. First-year Mackenzie Hillman (Newington, Conn.) scored on a free position shot to make it 5-2, and with 55 seconds left in the half senior Hannah Bisson (South Hadley, Mass.) scored from a pass behind the goal from Emi Bisson, closing the gap to 6-3 before halftime.
The third quarter saw the Cougars increase their lead by two goals, dominating shots in the quarter 14-2 despite a 3-0 Mount Holyoke edge in draw controls. Liakos scored unassisted halfway through the quarter, ending an eight-minute drought on both sides, and then assisted Lucas for an 8-3 Clark lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
Annie Battle made 10 saves to earn the goalie win for Clark. Mary Greene caused six Lyons turnovers to go with four ground balls.
First-year Syd Baker (Needham, Mass.) made 15 saves in a strong defensive effort by the Lyons. Sophomore Jane Harmon (Ashburnham, Mass.) had three ground balls in an excellent game for Mount Holyoke's defenders, along with seniors Isabel Cordes (Yorktown, Va.) and Caroline Thompson (Harwich, Mass.), among others.
Clark took a 10-3 lead early in the fourth quarter with goals by Lucas and Aubrey Connors. But Phillips scored her second goal and eighth of the season off the ensuing draw, closing it to 10-4 with 12:00 remaining in the game for Mount Holyoke's first goal of the half. Didier scored a man-up goal a minute later to restore Clark's seven-goal lead.
With 9:16 to go, Emi Bisson scored a free-position goal to make it 11-5. But Clark held Mount Holyoke off the scoreboard the rest of the way in a physical final nine minutes. Twenty-three cards were issued in the game, 19 of them against the visitors, including nine yellow cards, and seven cards issued in the final seven minutes.
The Lyons celebrated Senior Day for their four members of the Class of 2024: Hannah Bisson, Lily Connelly (West Simsbury, Conn.), Cordes, and Thompson. Connelly is out with injury but made the ceremonial start.
Mount Holyoke will host Emerson College on Monday at 4pm, in a makeup game from March. Clark will host Salve Regina next Saturday at 12pm.
