Wellesley Lacrosse Cruises Past New England College

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College lacrosse team opened up a huge first half lead and never looked back as the Blue cruised to a 19-4 win over visiting New England College on Saturday afternoon.

Wellesley used a 15-goal first half and then held the visitors without a score for over 30 minutes between the two periods to seal the victory. The win evens Wellesley's overall mark to 2-2, while NEC dips to 0-2 on the season. 

Seven Wellesley players scored multiple times, led by senior Brit Mscisz who recorded four goals and an assist, and junior Meghan Peterson and first-year Nikki Sharkin who each scored three times. Junior Claire Canty, sophomore Chesley Hooker, and first-years Courtney Peterson and Mary Lemay all scored a pair of goals, while sophomore Ellie Mannon rounded out the scoring with a solo tally. 

Also for the Blue, Canty ended the afternoon with a team-high seven draw controls, to go along with a pair of caused turnovers. Meghan Peterson had four caused turnovers and two ground balls, while Hooker and Sharkin hit team-highs with three ground balls each. In goal for the Blue, senior Tori Hysko earned the win, making seven saves and allowing just four goals. 

NEC was paced by solo goals from Jacquelyn Lane, Elizabeth Bois, Allison Granata, and Kasondra Moniz. Granata also contributed team highs of five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Gabriella Bigos ended the game with five draw controls, while Kelsi Orcutt suffered the loss, making four saves in goal. 

The game appeared to be headed for a tight contest, with the teams trading scores in the first 45 seconds of play. Lane opened the scoring with a free position shot for NEC, while Canty answered with a helper from Mscisz to tie the game at 1-1.

From that point on it was all Wellesley, as the Blue went on a 7-1 run, paced by two Lemay scores to open an 8-2 lead. NEC got one back with an unassisted tally from Granata with 13:17 to play in the period, but the Blue closed out the half with seven unanswered goals, opening a 15-3 lead at the break. 

Wellesley scored the first four goals of the second half, increasing the lead to 18-3 with 17:40 to play in running time. NEC broke a 31+ minute scoring drought with a goal from Moniz with 11:29 to play, but Wellesley's Mannon scored the final tally to make it 19-4 Blue. 

Wellesley is back in action at home on Wednesday, hosting Wesleyan University at 4:00pm. New England College next travels to Frostburg State, playing Wednesday at 1:00pm.