NEW LONDON, Conn. - Powered by a game-best five goals from junior attacker Julia Bell, the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team defeated the United States Coast Guard Academy by a 12-2 margin in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday evening.
With the victory, the Lyons move to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in conference play, while the Bears slip to 3-8 and 0-5 in the NEWMAC.
MHC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest as Bell scored on the free position and followed that up with another tally off a feed from senior captain Kirsten Kilburn.
The Lyons made it a 4-0 advantage over the next six minutes as Kilburn scored unassisted and then notched a free position tally of her own for the four-goal lead with 20:15 to play in the opening half. Bell went on to sandwich two more goals around a score by sophomore attack Charlotte Wagner and attacker Katherine Guinee fired in a pair of goals over the final 4:47 to give Mount Holyoke a 9-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half of action, Wagner added to the lead, converting on a pass from first year attack Molly Dunphy at the 27:42 mark. Bell scored her fifth and final goal of the game less than four minutes later and Kilburn notched her third of the contest with 18:13 to go, closing out the scoring for the Lyons.
Coast Guard got on the board with 13:27 to go as Lucy Daghir scored unassisted and Kaitlin Dickinson chipped in with an unassisted goal with 3:24 remaining.
In addition to Bell's goals, which matched a season-high total for 2015, the Lyons saw Kilburn add three goals and an assist. Guinee and Wagner each had two goals, while junior captain and attacker Catherine Ryan notched two assists. In goal, sophomore Isa Rodriguez made four saves over 47:20 minutes played, while first year Clarissa Leight played the final 12:40.
For Coast Guard, netminder Angel Fay recorded six saves to shoulder the loss.
Mount Holyoke finished with a 23-6 advantage in shots, also holding the edge in ground balls, 22-15. The two teams were even in draw controls with an 8-8 margin.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, hosting MIT at 12pm. The Bears are also in action on Saturday, traveling to Wellesley for an 11am contest.
