Wellesley Lacrosse Cruises to Non-Conference Win Over Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.), 22-7

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Senior Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) set career-highs with 10 goals and 12 points and classmate Lena Engbretson (Beaverton, Ore.) established a career-high with eight points on eight assists, as Wellesley College lacrosse rolled past Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.), 22-7, in non-conference play on Saturday at the Wellesley Fields Complex. 

The Blue snapped a two-game skid with the victory, improving to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 at home. Mt. St. Mary is now 0-4 overall.

Seven different players scored for the Blue, paced by Persky's game-high 10 goals. First year Eleanor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) finished with nine points on six goals and three assists, while senior Mariana Hernandez (Orlando, Fla.) netted a pair of goals for the Blue. Sophomore Kat Gallison (Portsmouth, R.I.), seniors Ellie Chalphin (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.), and first year Izzy Burdick (Scarborough, Maine) also scored for Wellesley. Gallison finished the contest with a game-high six draw controls, while junior Hannah Maisano (Gambrills, Md.) had five ground balls to lead all players. 

Junior Courtney Condron (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and sophomores Alyssa DiMare (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Providence Gilkey (Shirley, N.Y.), each scored a pair of goals for the Knights. First year Megan Shalvey (Blauvelt, N.Y.) added the other Mt. St. Mary goal and picked-up a pair of draw controls. Sophomore Hope Blanc (Wantagh, N.Y.) matched Maisano with a game-high five ground balls. In net, sophomore Jackie Finkel (Warwick, N.Y.) turned back 15 shots in the setback. 

Mallett and Persky scored back-to-back goals in the opening six minutes of play to give Wellesley an early 2-0 lead. Condron followed by netting the first Mt. St. Mary goal with a free position shot at 22:29, but Mallett and Persky would respond with two more goals to make the score 4-1 Wellesley at 21:17. The Knights scored two of the next three goals in the game to cut the lead to 5-3 when Condron netted her second with an unassisted effort at 19:19. However, Wellesley outscored the visitors, 6-2, over the final 17:40 minutes of the first to take an 11-5 lead to the break.

Persky scored five of her ten goals in the opening half before adding five more after the break. The Blue opened the second stanza on a 4-0 run, extending the lead to 15-5 following Mallett's fifth goal at 25:11. Gilkey stopped the Blue charge with a free position goal at 20:06, but Wellesley would follow with a 7-0 run that put the game out of reach. Persky scored four times during the charge, which also included Burdick's first collegiate goal, to help the Blue to a 22-4 lead with 4:21 left in regulation. DiMare capped the scoring with her third of the season for the Knights at 1:11 but Wellesley would take the 22-7 final. 

The Blue outshot the Knights, 49-14, and had a 37-10 advantage in shots on goal. Wellesley had a 30-17 edge in ground balls and collected 20 draw controls. First year Lorna Li (Taunton, Mass.) made three saves in her first collegiate start to earn her first career victory.

Wellesley will travel to UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday, March 19, at 6:30 PM in a game rescheduled from earlier this month. Mt. St. Mary will hit the road on Wednesday afternoon, March 20, to take on Vassar at 1:00 PM.