Coast Guard Pulls Away For 10-7 NEWMAC Win Over Wellesley Lacrosse

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The U.S. Coast Guard Academy outscored Wellesley College lacrosse 5-2 in the second half to earn a 10-7 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory on Wednesday afternoon at the Wellesley Fields Complex.

Coast Guard is now 5-9 overall and 2-3 in NEWMAC games. Wellesley has now lost four straight to drop to 5-9 on the season and 1-5 in conference.

First year Maddie Rizzuto (Yardley, Pa.) finished with one goal and three assists to lead Coast Guard. Sophomore Haley Howard (Wilton, Conn.) scored a hat trick, while classmate Haley McCue (Arnold, Md.) chipped in with a goal and two assists. Sophomore Luisa Santos (Leesburg, Va.) and classmate Etta Davis (Great Falls, Va.) each tallied a goal and an assist, with Davis adding a team-high five ground balls and four draw controls. 

Senior Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored four goals to lead the Blue. Classmate Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) added a goal and two assists, while first years Eleanor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) and Izzy Burdick (Scarborough, Maine) also netted goals for the Blue. Junior Maya Sullivan (Cumberland, R.I.) scooped up a game-high five ground balls in the setback.

McCue helped Coast Guard jump to a 3-1 lead, setting-up Howard for the game's first goal at 26:38 and Davis at 15:40, before scoring her 11th of the year on an assist from Davis at 14:59. Mallett cut the Blue deficit to one at 9:57, but the Bears would go on to take a 5-2 advantage when Howard completed a first half hat trick with goals at 9:12 and 7:54. The Blue responded to tie the game before the break. Strobl set-up goals by Persky at 6:02 and Burdick at 4:40, before Persky scored her third of the game on a free position goal in the final minute of the first to knot the game at 5-5. 

Coast Guard broke the tie 4:06 into the second on the 12th of the year from Carter Sanderson (Stillwater, Minn.). Persky countered to tie the game at 19:22, but Santos set-up Kathrine Pittman (Nantucket, Mass.) at 18:46 before scoring at 18:12 to put the Bears up for good. Strobl cut the lead to one, at 8-7, with a goal at 16:17, but goals from Emily Rivera (Juneau, Alaska) and Rizzuto sealed the 10-7 win for the Bears.

Coast Guard finished with a 38-19 lead in shots and a 26-19 advantage in ground balls. Coast Guard goalkeeper Mary Budri (Falmouth, Maine) made five saves to earn the win (4-8). Wellesley first year Lorna Li (Taunton, Mass.) totaled 12 stops in the loss (4-7).

Both teams will host NEWMAC games on Saturday, April 20, at 12:00 PM. Wellesley will welcome Springfield for Senior Day and Coast Guard will host Mount Holyoke.