WENHAM, Mass. - The Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team kicked-off its 2019 season with 18 goals - nine of which came off the sticks of first year players - as the Lyons bested Gordon College by an 18-3 margin on the road. Six of those goals came from rookie attacker Abby Baldwin, who helped push MHC to an 8-1 lead at half.
Mount Holyoke dominated to open the contest, going up 4-0 within the first five minutes of the contest. Junior captain and midfielder Julianna Rankin opened the effort at 28:44 dropping in a feed from Baldwin, who then countered with back-to-back scores of her own. Baldwin netted the first goal of her career just over a minute after, converting on a pass by senior captain and attacker Mazzie Meotti, before notching her second less than a minute later from senior captain and midfielder Haley Subocz.
Rankin scored once again, followed by another from Baldwin, before rookie attacker Caroline Flynn netted the first of her career at 18:15 for the 6-0 advantage. The Fighting Scots battled back as Christina Piluso scored from Olivia McCarrick at 4:31, but another goal from Baldwin, along with a tally from sophomore Meryl Phair with less than a minute remaining gave MHC the edge at half.
Junior midfielder Reina Torrez-Miner netted her first of the year less than a minute into the first half and Baldwin pushed the visitors advantage to nine (10-1) at the 25:59 mark. Gordon got one back near the 20-minute mark as Molly Guthrie scored unassisted, but a free position goal from Rankin, followed by goals from Phair and rookie Allie Brown made it a 13-2 contest at 16:23.
Gordon scored its third tally at 14:58 as McCarrick fed Emma Hryzan, but the Lyons went on a 5-0 run over the final 11 minutes, including goals from Flynn, senior attack Deyscha Smith, Subocz, Rankin and Baldwin.
In goal, junior Mia Wysocki earned her first win of the season, stopping seven Fighting Scots' shots on the afternoon. Her counterpart, Annabel Christenson shouldered the loss for Gordon, stopping 12 shots.
Highlighting the efforts for the Lyons was Baldwin, who opened her collegiate lacrosse career with six goals and assist to go along with four ground balls, a game-best six draw controls, along with a game-high four caused turnovers. Rankin added four goals with three ground balls, a game-high six draw controls and three caused turnovers, while Flynn had two goals with an assist, a ground ball and a caused turnover.
Mount Holyoke held a dominating 44-17 edge in shots for the contest, while also holding an 18-5 clip in draw controls. The Lyons also had a 12-15 margin on the clear and went 1-2 on the free position attempts.
The Lyons return to action next Saturday when they open their home slate against Bridgewater State at 12pm.
