Slow Second Half Stymies Women's Lacrosse

AURORA, N.Y. – Taking on the reigning North Eastern Athletic Conference champions from Morrisville State College, the Wells College women's lacrosse team was defeated by a 20-9 score on Saturday. With the loss, Wells remains winless in six games on the year while the Mustangs improve to 2-5 overall after its first NEAC win. 

Freshman Mackenzie Maloney (Huntington Station, N.Y.) posted a career-high six goals in the game while classmate Renee Bartosz (Blasdell, N.Y.) joined seniors Andrea Gould (Fulton, N.Y.) and Amber Jordan (Auburn, N.Y.) on the stat sheet with one goal apiece. Bartosz also notched two assists while seniors Lindsay Achzet (Johnstown, N.Y.) and Lexie Roberson (Lewisville, N.C.) both dished out one assist. 

Gould tied a career-high mark with six caused turnovers in the game. Junior Lexi Cohen (Newtown, Pa.) had a standout game for Wells on defense, reeling in a team-best five ground balls while forcing the Morrisville State offense into three turnovers, a career-best mark. Collectively, the Express caused 13 turnovers. 

Wells and Morrisville State played to a 7-7 deadlock at halftime with neither team holding a significant statistical advantage over the other. However, the Mustangs completely dominated the second half of play, taking 27 shots while limiting Wells to only five total shots in the final 30 minutes. In total, the Mustangs scored 13 of the game's final 15 goals to stun the Express. 

Morrisville State scored the game's first four goals before the Express rattled off four strikes to tie the game at four with 15:23 remaining in the half. The Mustangs ultimately led by a 7-5 margin as late as 6:37, but Gould and Maloney would score the final two goals of the half to create the halftime score of 7-7. 

After the Mustangs opened the second half with a goal, Maloney potted her sixth goal of the game with 22:01 remaining in regulation to tie the game at eight. Morrisville State would use a dominant 10-0 run to eliminate a chance of an Express victory – in the second half alone, Wells failed on 10 total clearance attempts while successfully carrying the ball up field only twice. 

On the game, failed clearance attempts hurt Wells as 17 of the team's 31 turnovers came at the midfield. In total, Wells was only 12-for-29 at the clear while Morrisville State was an efficient 13-for-17. 

Wells goalkeeper Quinn Doubet (Virgil, N.Y.) made 12 saves, drawing the loss, while Cailin Dunphy made only five saves on 14 shots for the Mustangs. Elizabeth Leva led Morrisville State with seven goals and seven draw controls. 

Sunday's women's lacrosse contest versus Cazenovia has been postponed due to anticipated inclement weather. An announcement about a make-up date is forthcoming.