Wellesley Lacrosse Edged by Eastern Conn. State, 16-5, in Non-Conference Action

MANSFIELD, Conn.-- Wellesley College lacrosse dropped a 16-5 setback to Eastern Connecticut State in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex. The Warriors improve to 4-5 overall, while the Blue drop to 0-10 on their season.

Sophomore Alyssa Powers (Ellington, Conn.) paced Eastern Conn. State with four goals and two assists and senior Katie Burke (South Windsor, Conn.) tallied three goals and two assists in the victory. Senior Maggie Bodington (Stratford, Conn.), sophomore Tristan Kijak (Windsor, Conn.), and junior Michelina Pinto (Groton, Conn.) all put away two goals each in the contest. Rounding out scoring for Eastern Conn. State were seniors Allison Wylie (Ellington, Conn.), Jenna Glynn (West Granby), and Amanda Tourjee (Waterford, Conn.) all adding a goal each.

Senior Jenny Gubner (Pleasanton, Calif.) and junior Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) each tallied two goals apiece to lead the Blue. First year Carson Dennis (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) scored a goal and scooped up two ground balls in the setback.

Eastern Conn. State got on the board first when Burke netted her first of the game at 26:23. Wellesley answered, scoring back-to-back goals from Gubner at 23:55 and Strobl at 20:59 to take a 2-1 lead. The Warriors fired back at 20:43 when Burke put away her second of the day to tie the game at 2-2. The goal also sparked an eight-goal run to help ECSU hold a 10-2 advantage at the half.

Eastern Conn. State scored the first two goals of the second half from Wylie and Pinto at 26:31 and 23:16 to increase their lead to 12-2. Dennis scored her second of the season at 21:44 on a free-position shot to cut Wellesley's deficit, 12-3. Eastern Conn. State responded, scoring three unanswered goals to extend their lead to 15-3. Strobl and Gubner put away two more for Wellesley, but the Warriors held on to take the 16-5 victory. Eastern Conn. State held the advantage in shots, 28-23 and draw controls, 12-11.

Wellesley junior goalkeeper Chloe Tucker (San Ramon, Calif.) recorded seven saves in the setback and dropped to 0-10 on her season. Eastern Conn. State junior goalkeeper Jessica Purick (Riverhead, NY) earned the win with 12 saves in her 54:50 minutes of play and is now 4-5 in her season. First year Sarah Farag (Holmdel, NJ) saw 5:10 minutes of action to finish the game for the Warriors. 

Both teams return to action on Saturday, April 7. Wellesley will jump back into conference play as they travel to MIT with the draw set for 1:00 pm. Eastern Conn. State will host Mount Holyoke at 4:00 pm.