Second Half Rally Falls Short For Wellesley Lacrosse at Wentworth

BOSTON, Mass. -- Senior Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored seven goals and added an assist but Wellesley College lacrosse dropped a 17-13 final to host Wentworth Institute of Technology in non-conference play on Wednesday night at Sweeney Field.

Wentworth first year Sarah Galan (Colchester, Conn.) scored seven goals to lead the Leopards to their fourth consecutive victory to open the season (4-0). The Blue drop to 1-2 with the setback.

Galan added four ground balls and four draw controls for Wentworth, who also got five goals from sophomore Emily Rogers (Pembroke, Mass.) and four goals from junior Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.). Rogers and first year Jorgie Pashalian (Cranston, R.I.) tied for game-high honors with two assists each, with Rogers adding 10 draw controls. Junior Julie Dam (Milford, Mass.) rounded out the Wentworth scoring with her second of the season. Sophomore Alana Lauersen (York, Maine) paced the Leopard defense with five ground balls.

Persky tied for game-high honors with five ground balls. First year Eleanor Mallett (Berwick Maine) scored her second hat trick in three games, adding an assist, four ground balls, and two draw controls. Junior Marika Dy (San Mateo, Calif.), sophomore Kat Gallison (Portsmouth, R.I.), and senior Ellie Chalphin ((Philadelphia, Pa.) closed out the Wellesley scoring, while senior Mariana Hernandez (Orlando, Fla.) added an assist.

Rogers and Dam scored back-to-back free position goals to break a 1-1 tie, giving Wentworth a 3-1 lead in the opening minutes of the first. Mallett responded with her second of the game at 18:07, but Galan and Rogers would stretch the Leopard lead to 5-2 with a pair of quick goals at 17:36 and 17:15, respectively.

Wentworth would eventually lead by four when Rogers found Paradis to make the score 9-5 at 3:08. Mallett set-up Persky at 2:33 to cut the deficit back to three, but the Blue would continue to trail by four at the break, as Paradis capped the opening half with a goal in the final minute to make the score 10-6. 

Wellesley would finish the contest with a 31-26 advantage in shots on goal, but Wentworth squashed an early second half rally from the Blue to hang on for the victory. Chalphin, Mallett, and Persky scored three consecutive goals to pull the Blue within one, 10-9, at 27:28 of the second. However, the Wellesley offense would go cold over the next 20 minutes of play, as Wentworth went on a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 16-9 with 8:23 left in regulation.

Persky got the Blue back on the board with a free position shot at 7:59. The senior attacker followed with two more Wellesley goals to cut the led to 16-12, but Wellesley would get no closer than four in the final minutes of play. Galan scored her seventh at 5:10 and Gallison countered with her second of the season at 2:38 as Wentworth closed out the 17-13 win.  

Sophomore Lily Kuhns (Gloucester, Mass.) made 18 saves to help the Leopards earn the win. Wellesley senior Chloe Tucker (San Ramon, Calif.) made four saves in first-half action and is now 1-2 on the season. First year Lorna Li (Taunton, Mass.) added five saves in the second half. 

Wellesley returns home to host Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.) on Saturday, March 16, at 1:00 PM.  Wentworth will host UMaine-Farmington next Tuesday, 19, at 7:00 PM.