WELLESLEY, Mass. - Powered by a 10-goal second half, the Wellesley College lacrosse team bested visiting Mount Holyoke College, 16-6 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon. The win marked the first of the season for the Blue, who are now 1-12 and 1-4 in conference play. The Lyons slip to 3-9 and 1-3 in the NEWMAC.
Heading into the second half of action, the Blue owned a 6-3 advantage through the opening 30 minutes. Wellesley went on a quick 6-0 run to push its lead to 12-3 with 18:20 to play, backed by a two-goal effort from Dacia Persky, along with a two assist (and two goal) showing by Carson Dennis.
Mount Holyoke battled back as junior attack Deyscha Smith converted on a free position attempt, but the Blue countered with a free position make of their own to push it to 13-4. Off an outstanding feed from senior captain Leila Kouakou, classmate Kaitlin Braz notched her second of the game.
Wellesley's Jenny Gubner, who scored all of her game-high four goals in the second half, notched two over the final 11:41. Lyons sophomore midfielder Julianna Rankin was able to fire in a free position shot to move it to a 10-goal advantage with 3:05 remaining, but the Blue defense held them off in the closing minutes.
In addition to Gubner, who also had an assist with three ground balls, a draw control and two caused turnovers, Wellesley saw Dennis finish with two goals, two assists, two ground balls, three draws and a caused turnover. Persky added three goals and two helpers, while both Ellie Chalphin and Kat Gallison each had a game-best four draw control wins.
For Mount Holyoke, Braz recorded two tallies, adding three ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover. Kouakou had a goal and an assist with a game-best three caused turnovers, while Rankin added a goal, two ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
In goal, Wellesley's Chloe Tucker notched four saves for the win, while Lyons keeper sophomore Mia Wysocki shouldered 13 stops in the defeat.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Springfield College in NEWMAC action at 6pm. The Blue are also in action Wednesday, traveling to Coast Guard for a 3pm conference tilt.
