SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Mount Holyoke College scored three of the final four goals of the game to secure a 14-13 come-from-behind victory at Western New England University on Wednesday evening. The victory moves the Lyons to 2-4 on the young season, while the Golden Bears are now 2-5 overall.
Mount Holyoke, which faced an 8-5 deficit after the first half of action, began to battle back with 9:32 remaining as senior captain Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa./Westtown School) connected on a free position attempt. A yellow card on the home Golden Bears gave the Lyons an advantage, which first year Mary LaVigne (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury) capitalized on to pull it to 12-11.
With 5:06 left in the contest, junior Leila Kouakou (Leeds, Mass./Northampton) nabbed the equalizer, converting a pass from classmate Kaitlin Braz (Tolland, Conn./East Catholic) to make it a 12-all game. Western New England struck around 30 seconds later, taking the lead on Julia Winer's fourth of the afternoon, but Kouakou once again tied the game, followed by the eventual game-winning tally from Wagner with 1:39 to play.
Western New England won the ensuing draw control, but both teams capitalized on turnovers down the stretch and the Lyons held strong for the victory.
It was a back-and-forth battle to open the game in the first half as the teams were tied 2-2 with 17:17 on a free position goal by LaVigne. The Golden Bears took control of the stanza with three straight tallies, followed by two goals over the final four minutes from Winer.
Mount Holyoke was led in the game by Wagner, who led all players with six goals on 12 shots (11 on goal). She also posted two ground balls with a caused turnover. Kouakou also had an outstanding game, scoring five goals, while winning three draw controls. Braz added a game-high four assists with five ground balls with senior Alyssa Tabrisky (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Kent School (Conn.)) posted a game-best four caused turnovers.
For Western New England, Winer had four goals with two assists. Emma Norden and Lindsey Phillips each notched three goals with a helper, while Kaitlyn Hutter had three assists. Madison Cutler and Alexa Kimker each notched a game-high five ground balls.
In goal, MHC saw senior Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville School) post two saves in the first half. First year Mia Wysocki (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) came on in the second half, earning the victory with four saves. For the Golden Bears, Cutler played 54:54 and made 13 stops. Shannon McFadden shouldered the loss with no saves over 5:06.
Mount Holyoke held a 33-26 advantage in shots, also owning a 15-14 edge in draw controls and free position shots (3-7). The two teams each notched 25 ground balls.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday at 12pm when they host Skidmore College. Western New England is back in action next Tuesday, traveling to Gordon for a 4pm contest.
