BOSTON, Mass. - Emerson's Meredith Weber posted a game-best six goals to lead the Lions to a 14-11 victory over Mount Holyoke College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) lacrosse opener for both teams. Emerson improves to 3-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while the Lyons of MHC are now 2-6 with an 0-1 NEWMAC mark.
Trailing 6-3 at halftime, Mount Holyoke was able to pull to within one on tallies from first year Mary LaVigne and senior captain Charlotte Wagner in the first nine minutes of the second stanza. Despite the momentum, Emerson rallied back with three straight for a 9-5 advantage.
Weber, who tallied at 16:23, added her sixth of the contest following another Wagner goal less than a minute later on the free position. Two more Lions goals stretched the lead to five (12-7) with 13:03 to play.
Junior Leila Kouakou, who led MHC with four goals, and classmate Kaitlin Braz each scored soon after the Emerson run to move the visitors to within four (12-8), but two more tallies by the home team once again pushed it to a six-goal deficit.
The Lyons refused to back down in the contest with three goals in the final 3:26, including back-to-back efforts from Braz and the third of the contest from Wagner, but MHC could not get closer than three in the final minute of the game.
In addition to Weber's game-high goals, she also recorded a game-high 14 draw controls, nine ground balls and three caused turnovers. Notching two goals apiece in the effort were Tara Windsor, Sophia Gripari, Mia Doyon and Jenna Tomsky. Doyon also produced a game-high nine ground balls.
For Mount Holyoke, Kouakou recorded four goals with three ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover. Braz notched three goals, a game-high nine ground balls and three caused turnovers. Wagner added three goals as well. Junior captain and defender Julia Lankin also had a solid game, assisting on a goal, while adding three ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover.
In goal, Kristina Modica earned the win for Emerson, stopping nine shots. For the Lyons, first year Mia Wysocki had eight saves in the loss.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Saturday when it competes at Babson in a 1pm conference tilt. Emerson is also on the field on Saturday, welcoming Smith at 11am.
