Blue Lacrosse Falls to Southern Maine, 11-7

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley College lacrosse team dropped a non-conference matchup with Southern Maine by a score of 11-7 on Wednesday evening at Butler Stadium.

Southern Me. improves to 5-3 overall and the Blue drop to 2-5.

Senior Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine) scored a game-high six goals on nine shots to lead the Husky offense. Sophomore Kiaya Gatchell (Portland, Maine) and first year Kate Colvin each added a pair of goals in the win.

Blue sophomore Willa McGough (Plainfield, N.H.) netted a career high two goals and added three caused turnovers. Senior Eleanor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) and junior Izzy Burdick (Scarborough, Maine) also recorded two goals for the Blue and sophomore Gabrielle Shell (Upper Arlington, Ohio) was the fourth goalscorer.

The Blue got off to a perfect start after McGough won the draw control and dished it off to Shell, who then found an open Mallett who gave Wellesley a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. The Huskies were quick to respond after Gatchell netted her first of the contest to tie the game. Southern Maine added a pair of goals before Shell sent home her first goal of the game and the Blue trailed 3-2 after one.

Under two minutes into the second quarter, Sugg netted the equalizer with a free position goal and her 10th of the season. Southern Maine took back control of the offensive end and recorded the next three goals coming from Shanks, Nichols, and Shanks again respectively. With 2:59 to play Sugg found the back of the net for the second time and cut the Husky lead to 6-4 where the score would remain heading into the half.

Both teams traded a pair of goals to begin the half with Colvin scoring for Southern Maine and Shell for the Blue. The game then went nearly 11 minutes without a goal scored before Colvin ended the drought and gave the Huskies a 8-5 lead. The damage was not quite done as they added two more goals before the quarter ended to extend the lead to 10-5. Wellesley caught fire playing from behind as McGough and Mallett scored in the beginning of the fourth to narrow the Husky lead to 10-7. The Huskies tightened up its defense and was able to keep the Blue scoreless the rest of the way.

Sophomore keeper Cece Racine (Lewiston, Maine) made 16 saves for Southern Maine in the win. On the other side of the turf, senior Lorna Li (Taunton, Mass.) and junior Hannah Pangborn (Raleigh, N.C.) combined for 10 total saves. The Blue outshot Southern Maine 30-26 overall.

The Blue hit the road for a match with Coast Guard on Saturday, April 2 at 12:00 PM. Southern Maine will entertain Castleton University on the same date and time.