SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Tyler Phillips scored with 1:35 remaining in the contest and the Skidmore College women's lacrosse team held off Mount Holyoke College for a 13-12 victory in the season opener for both teams.
Despite scoring the first two goals of the game, the homestanding Lyons found themselves facing an 8-5 deficit following the first 30 minutes of the contest. The Thoroughbreds rattled off six straight goals over a nine-minute span in the first half to build up their advantage, aided by three tallies from senior midfielder Spencer Morgan (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood).
Skidmore made it a 9-5 margin quickly into the second half, but the Lyons fought back, closing the gap to 9-7 on scores from sophomore attack Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa./Westtown School) and junior attack Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow).
Trailing by an 11-9 margin following a goal by Skidmore's Emma Harris (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes), who converted a solid pass by sophomore middie Allison Byrne (West Hartford, Conn./Loomis Chaffee), Mount Holyoke made its move. Senior midfielder Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) led the charge, scoring a pair of goals just over a minute apart to tie it at 11-all with 9:39 to play.
Phillips (Marblehead, Mass./Marblehead) pushed the visitors back out in front at the 6:17 mark and the Thoroughbreds nearly grabbed a two-goal lead as Phillips found the back of the net minutes later, but the goal was disallowed by the referees to keep the margin at 12-11.
Mount Holyoke used that momentum to even the score once again as Wagner barreled down the middle off a feed from behind the net from junior attack Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson). The Lyons could not hold off the Thoroughbreds for long as Phillips rattled one past the MHC keeper on the free position to seal the victory.
Skidmore, who finished with a 30-19 advantage in shots for the game, won the final draw control and held onto position throughout the final minute of the game to take the win.
Leading the way for Skidmore was Morgan, who posted four goals with two assists. Phillips added a hat trick with an assist, while Harris chipped in with three goals and an assist. First year attack Marisa Caponi (Wayne, N.Y./Indian Hills) had two tallies. In the net, sophomore Megan Kolopsky (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) had three saves.
For the Lyons, Kilburn finished with a game-best six goals, while Ryan had two tallies and two assists. Bell posted a pair of tallied with a helper, while Wagner also added two goals. Sophomore netminder Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville School) suffered the loss for the Lyons, stopping 11 shots, including eight in the second half.
Skidmore held the edge in ground balls, 18-12, while both teams recorded 10 clears in the contest.
Mount Holyoke is back in action on Thursday when it travels to Westfield State for a 5:30pm contest. The Thoroughbreds are back on Wednesday, travelling to Hartwick for a 4pm game.
