WOMEN'S LAX STAYS UNBEATEN IN GNAC WITH 16-10 WIN OVER MOUNT IDA
NEWTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team fought off several rallies by Mount Ida College Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action, holding on for a 16-10 victory at Alumni Field to stay unbeaten in confernce play.
NEWTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team fought off several rallies by Mount Ida College Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action, holding on for a 16-10 victory at Alumni Field to stay unbeaten in confernce play.
The Mustangs (4-9) were within arms distance of their second GNAC win of the season (1-6), but a 4-1 scoring binge by Emmanuel helped the Saints stay hot, winning their fourth straight game (8-2) and keeping a perfect 7-0 GNAC record intact.
Junior Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) and sophomore Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) each scored hat tricks for the Mustangs, and Sammy Levitt (Wayland, Mass.) made 14 saves against an Emmanuel team that held a 32-17 advantage in shots.
Junior Sarah Wootten (Berlin, Md.) had a six point day, with three goals and three assists to lead the Saints attack, while Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) added four goals and an assist. The pair also combined to win 15 draw controls and each caused a pair of turnovers.
The Mustangs got on the board first on a goal by freshman Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.), but Emmanuel wasted no time in seizing control of the first half, scoring seven of the next eight markers.
Madison Altwies (Southington, Conn.) notched her two goals during that first half run, and Wootten scored back to back goals a minute apart to put the hosts up 7-2 after Beaulieu had tallied for the second time in the game. Her two goals gave her 31 on the season, making her the second Mustang to cross the 30-goal plateau in 2014.
Emmanuel sophomore Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) tallied the middle goal of her hat trick with 12:06 left in the first half and, after Molly Sheppard (Brookhaven, N.Y.) marked for the Mustangs, Higgins and Wootten scored a pair of unassisted goals to bring the lead back to 9-3 in favor of the visitors.
Mount Ida got the deficit to within four at the break thanks to late goals from Christina Gedick (Acton, Mass.) and Bowen, who scored twice more in the first 12 minutes of the second half to bring the Saints lead to 10-7 after Savannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.) had opened the last thirty minutes of play with her fourth goal of the year.
Higgins and Tuleja each traded goals with Basler, who scored all three of her goals in the second half, but Higgins and Abaigeal Merrigan (Rye, N.H.) began the final ten minutes push for the Saints that saw Merrigan score twice and freshman Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.) also get on the scoreboard with her 16th goal of the year.
Sophomore Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.) made five saves to earn the victory in goal for Emmanuel, who grabbed 21 ground balls to the Mustang's 13.
Graduate student Alison Koning (Carlisle, Mass.) had three ground balls and caused a turnover in the Mount Ida defeat.
The Mustangs will be on the road on Tuesday afternoon with a 3:30 game against GNAC foe Albertus Magnus.
Emmanuel makes a trip in the opposite direction on Tuesday, heading north to Maine for a 7:30 pm date with Saint Joseph's College.
*Release courtesy of Mount Ida College Sports Information Dept.