Women's Lacrosse Toppled By Hilbert, 7-5

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Despite a 3-2 lead near the end of the first half, the Wells College women's lacrosse team posted a 7-5 loss to the Hawks of Hilbert College on Sunday at Nichols High School in North Buffalo. With the loss, Wells remains winless on the season (0-3) while the Hawks earn their first victory of the season in four games. Hilbert, who was 0-3 against Wells all-time entering this afternoon's tilt, collects their first victory over the Express in team history.

For the first time in her career, sophomore Lexie Roberson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) scored a hat trick after notching a team-leading three goals. Roberson, who added an assist, led players from both teams in point scoring (3-1=4). Freshman Shianne Stokes (Mays Landing, N.J.) scored two goals off the bench for Wells. Junior Marina Fargnoli (Apalachin, N.Y.) reeled in a team-best four draw controls while sophomore attack Bri'Anna Horne (Baltimore, Md.) scooped up three ground balls to lead all players.

Trailing by a 1-0 margin, Stokes forced home a Roberson feed at 17:55 to knot the score at one apiece. Megan Smith, who scored her team's first goal of the game only 6:10 into the contest, struck again 90 seconds after Stokes' strike to grant her team a 2-1 lead with 16:03 remaining in the first half.

Roberson scored off of a pass from freshman Jessica Burbank (Stamford, Conn.) with 12:43 left in the first half, knotting the score at two aside. Stokes, however, paused the back-and-forth battle with Hilbert to score the game's next goal with 7:20 left in the first half, elevating Wells to a 3-2 lead. The Wells defense, however, allowed a quick counter attack by Kelly Hagenbuch, who scored only 37 seconds later to tie the score at three goals.

Tied at three entering halftime, the Hawks scored four times in the second half and limited Wells to only two goals in the final 30 minutes to secure the win. The eventual game-winning goal was scored by Ashley Viengmay with 8:16 left in regulation time – off of a free position attempt, Viengmay placed the host Hawks up by a 6-4 lead that they would not relinquish.

Smith led all Hilbert players in goal scoring with three to her credit. Hagenbuch potted two of her own while Kylie Reinholz picked up six ground balls off of the bench, leading players from both teams in that statistic.

Wells goaltender Brooke Spanbauer (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) had a strong performance in her second collegiate game as she turned aside nine shots on goal in the tough luck loss. Hilbert's Stephanie Glaza earned her first win of the season, making six saves on 11 Wells shots.