Colorado College Tops Blue Lacrosse in Spring Break Finale

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Host Colorado College earned a 13-10 non-conference victory over Wellesley College lacrosse on Thursday evening at Washburn Field. 

The loss snaps a five-game winning streak for the Blue, dropping Wellesley to 5-2 overall. Colorado College is now 6-2 on the season.

Junior Nikki Sharkin (Summit, N.J.) recorded four points in the contest on a hat trick and an assist. Sharkin now leads the Blue with 17 goals on the season. First year Lena Engbretson (Beaverton, Ore.) also totaled four points, recording two goals and a team-high two assists. Seniors Ellie Mannon (Birmingham, Ala.) and Chesley Hooker (), junior Mary Lemay (Longmeadow, Mass.), sophomore Jenny Gubner (Pleasanton, Calif.) and first year Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) all scored for the Blue, with Strobl also adding an assist.

Colorado College junior Mary Taussig (Larchmont, N.Y.) and first year Ellie Meyer (Park City, Utah) each scored hat tricks to lead the Tigers. Sophomores Annie DeFrino (Greenwich, Conn.) and Steph Kelly (St. Louis, Mo.) each added a pair of goals, while classmate Chelo Barton (San Francisco, Calif.) recorded a game-high thee assists.

Sharkin opened the game with a goal 45 seconds in, before Colorado College took a 4-1 advantage on the strength of four unanswered goals. Meyer capped the Tigers' run at 21:59, before Engbretson scored the second Wellesley goal at 20:04.

Just as they did to open the game, the Tigers responded to the Wellesley goal with four-straight goals of their own. Meyer netted her second on a free position shot at 16:13, while Taussig added two as part of the string to complete her hat trick. Yaussig's last goal came at 11:01, giving the Tigers an 8-2 lead.

The Blue scored four of the final five goals in the high-scoring first half to draw back within three at the break. Hooker used an assist from Strobl at 10:13, before Sharkin scored at 1:40 and Strobl and Lemay both scored inside the final minute of play to send the teams into the half with the score at 9-6.

Engbretson found Sharkin to open the second half with a Wellesley goal at 24:20 but Colorado College then used their third four-goal outburst of the game to distance themselves from the Blue. Kelly scored the final two goals in the rally, both on assists from Barton, to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead by the 12:31 mark of the second.

The Blue made one last push to tie the game but ultimately ran out of time. Gubner scored at 11:09, Engbretson added her second on a free position shot at 3:16 and Mannon scored the final goal of the game, and her third of the season, at 1:36, but in the end Colorado College would hold on for the 13-10 win. 

Wellesley returns east to take on New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Springfield on Wednesday, March 30, at 6:00 PM in their next contest. The Tigers will travel to Los Angeles to play Occidental on April 2.