ENGLEWOOD, Fla. - Despite a game-high four goals from junior Leila Kouakou, the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team was unable to best Western Connecticut State University, falling 12-9 in non-conference action in Florida on Tuesday. With the victory, the Colonials move to 2-1, while the Lyons are now 0-4 on the season.
Western Connecticut opened the game with a pair of goals less than a minute apart from Destinee Carey. The Lyons countered as Kouakou also tallied back-to-back goals to knot the game at 2-all with 23:49 to play in the opening half. Senior captain Charlotte Wagner pulled MHC into the lead at 22:31, but the Colonials responded to once again tie the game.
A goal from Carey soon followed to give Western Connecticut a 4-3 advantage, but Wagner once again found the back of the net for a 4-all game with 21:02 to play. Despite the momentum, the Lyons could not hold off the Colonials, who scored four straight goals to make it an 8-4 advantage.
Mount Holyoke, which saw Wagner score the final goal of the opening half, came out firing in the second stanza as it closed the gap to 8-7 behind scores from junior Kaitlin Braz and Kouakou. The Colonials saw Lauren Bradshaw score for a 9-7 lead, but Braz and Kouakou each tallied to tie it at 9-all with 9:05 to play.
The end of the contest would be all Colonials as Olivia Kosilla, Meaghan Gustafson and Carey each scored to give Western Connecticut the victory.
Western Connecticut was led by a game-best four goals from Carey, who also had three ground balls and a game-high three caused turnovers. Kosilla, Baldelli and Gustafson all added two goals. In the net, Missy O'Donnell earned the win with eight saves.
For Mount Holyoke, Kouakou also recorded a game-high's in ground balls and draw controls with four each. Wagner added three goals, while Braz posted two goals with two ground balls, two draw controls and a game-best three draw controls. Junior captain and defender Julia Lankin added team-high four ground balls with three draw controls and a caused turnover.
In goal, senior Isa Rodriguez shouldered the loss with 10 saves, while first year Mia Wysocki played the second half and had four stops.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Wednesday when it faces the University of New England at 5pm in Dever Park. Western Connecticut is also in action on Wednesday at Dever Park, playing Franklin & Marshall at 2:30pm.
