BOSTON, Mass. - Behind a game-best five goals from Catherine Ryan and a game-high four assists from Julia Bell, the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team defeated Emerson College by a 9-6 margin in the opening New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest for both teams. With the win, MHC improves to 4-3 on the season, while Emerson slips to 4-2 overall.
The homestanding Lyons opened the game's scoring as Guerin Morissette connected on a feed from Kate Lemire. But the visitors quickly took control as Ryan netted three straight tallies to give MHC a 3-1 advantage with 10:26 to play. Bell assisted on two of Ryan's scores.
Morissette notched her second of the game at 2:44 off a pass from Marlee Galper, who went on to feed the ball to Tayllar Righini a minute later to make it a 3-all game with 1:12 to go. Ryan fired in her fourth of the contest - a free position shot - with 10 seconds remaining and sophomore Katherine Guinee shot in a pass from Bell with one second to go, to give MHC a 5-3 lead at the break.
In the second half of action, the duo of Ryan and Bell once again pushed the Lyons ahead, as Ryan scored on an assist from Bell, who then scored less than a minute later on a feed from Ryan. Righini fired one in on a pass from Lemire to make it 7-4 and Lemire then scored on the free position with 8:28 to go.
Mount Holyoke continued to gain momentum as sophomore Charlotte Wagner and Bell both added goals to give the visitors a 9-5 edge. Lemire added another free position tally with 2:42 to go, but Emerson was unable to close the gap.
Ryan finished the game with five goals and an assist. Her six points pushed her past the 150 career points mark. She now has 57 goals and 98 assists for 155 points. Bell had two goals with four assists, adding to her impressive career numbers. She now has 153 goals with 59 assists for 212 points.
Guinee added a goal and a helper, while Wagner (1g) and senior midfielder Kirsten Kilburn (1a) each had a point. In the cage, sophomore Isa Rodriguez made 11 saves to pick up the victory.
For Emerson, Lemire had two goals with two assists. Morissette and Righini each had two goals, while Galper posted two assists. Goalie Victoria Kanaris added 11 saves in the loss for the Lions.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Emerson travels to Smith for a 12pm contest, while Mount Holyoke travels to Babson for a 1pm game.
