Mount Holyoke Rallies Late to Earn 14-13 Victory Over Western New England

Lyons claim first lead with 1:39 remaining in regulation

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 22, 2017) – The Mount Holyoke College women's lacrosse team rallied from a three-goal deficit over the final ten minutes of regulation to earn a 14-13 victory over Western New England University this afternoon in a back-and-forth, non-conference contest at Golden Bear Stadium.  

Top Performers                                                                                                          
• Junior attack Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) led the way for Western New England, scoring a season-high four goals and dishing out a pair of assists.  
• Graduate student Emma Norden (Belchertown, Mass.) and freshman Lindsey Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded four points each (three goals, one assist) while combining for five ground balls, seven draw controls and four caused turnovers.
 • Senior defender Alexa Kimker (Waltham, Mass.) collected five ground balls and five draw controls to go with one caused turnover.

• Senior Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa.) fueled the Mount Holyoke offense with a game-high seven points (six goals, one assist), putting 11 of her 12 shots on target.
• Junior Leila Kouakou (Leeds, Mass.) added five goals and three draw controls, while classmate Kaitlin Braz (Tolland, Conn.) handed out four assists and picked up five ground balls.

Game Review
• Western New England used a 3-0 run midway through the first half with goals from Norden, Winer and Phillips to claim a 5-2 advantage. Freshman Kaitlyn Hutter (Stamford, Conn.) recorded assists on all three goals.
• After having their lead cut to one (6-5) following Wagner's third goal of the half at the 3:34 mark, the Golden Bears held an 8-5 at the break as Winer and Norden both found the back of the net over the final 1:29 of the period.
• Mount Holyoke pulled back to within one on two occasions in the second half, but both times Western New England answered with a pair of goals to reclaim a three-goal edge.
• Trailing 12-9 with less than ten minutes remaining, the Lyons used a 3-0 run and tied the contest on Kouakou's fourth goal at the 5:06 mark.
• Winer gave the Golden Bears their final lead (13-12) with an unassisted tally 34 seconds later, but Kouakou equalized for the visitors with 3:28 remaining and Wagner netted the game-winner with 1:39 on the clock. Western New England won the ensuing draw control but turned the ball over twice down the stretch as Mount Holyoke held on for the win.

Notes
• The Golden Bears were successful on 15 of their 17 clear attempts.
• Mount Holyoke outshot Western New England 33-26 and held a 15-14 edge in draw controls.
• Winer's six points are her most since recording eight in the Golden Bears' season-opening loss to Springfield.

Up Next
Western New England (2-5) opens its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) slate next Tuesday at Gordon, while Mount Holyoke (2-4) returns home to host Skidmore on Saturday.