Wellesley Lacrosse Grabs Road Victory at UMass Dartmouth, 21-11

DARTMOUTH, Mass. – First year Eleanor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) scored seven goals and added an assist to lead Wellesley College lacrosse to a 21-11 non-conference victory over UMass Dartmouth Tuesday evening at Cressy Field.

Wellesley never trailed in the contest en route to the team's third victory of the season (3-2 overall). UMass Dartmouth is now 1-2 overall. 

Mallett recorded her fourth multi-goal game of her rookie campaign, scoring a first half hat trick before scoring four more after the break. Senior Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored five goals, while classmate Ellie Chalphin (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored a hat trick and first year Izzy Burdick (Scarborough, Maine) netted a pair. Eight different Wellesley players scored in all, with senior Lena Engbretson (Beaverton, Ore.), sophomores Ella Matticks (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kat Gallison (Portsmouth, R.I.), and Louise Conaty (Wilmington, Del.) also scoring for the Blue. Gallison added had a game-high eight draw controls, while sophomore Carson Dennis (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) led the Blue in ground balls with five. Senior Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) added three assists for Wellesley. 

Senior Brooke Scahill (Gales Ferry, Conn.) scored four goals and picked-up four ground balls to lead UMass Dartmouth. Junior Sam Muir (Sturbridge, Mass.) added a hat trick and a helper, while first year Isabella Mancini (Bellingham, Mass.) netted two goals. Senior Brooke Martel (Haverhill, Mass.) and first year Hannah Niemi (Fairhaven, Mass.) and also scored for the Corsairs in the setback.

Wellesley opened the game on a 5-0 run, spurred by a pair of markers from Mallett in the opening three minutes of play. Trailing 5-0, the Corsairs scored three straight to pull within two, 5-3, at the midway point of the first. Martel, Niemi, and Muir all scored for the hosts, but the Blue replied with another 5-0 run to take a 10-3 lead in halftime. Mallett scored her third at 7:07 before Burdick, Matticks, Chalphin, and Gallison all followed to help the Blue take control of the game.

UMass Darmouth trimmed the lead back down to five with back-to-back goals from Muir and Scahill at the start of the second. However, Engbretson, Persky, and Mallet countered with three straight over a two-minute span to put the Blue up, 13-5, at 26:20. The Blue continued to add to their total in the second, eventually posting 21 goals in the contest to finish with the team's second straight 20-goal effort. With the result, the Blue scored 20+ goals in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2012 season. 

First year goalkeeper Lorna Li (Taunton, Mass.) picked up her second victory in as many games, making eight saves on 19 shots. Junior Bridget Harrington (Florence, Mass.) also made eight stops in the setback (0-2). The Blue outshot the Corsairs by a 37-26 margin overall that included a 29-19 advantage in shots on goal. Wellesley also had the advantage in ground balls (33-23) and draw controls (19-14).

Wellesley returns home to open New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action on Saturday, March 23, at 12:00 PM against Babson. UMass Dartmouth will host Wentworth on Thursday, March 21, at 4:00 PM.