Women's Lacrosse Comes From Behind For 13-10 Win

HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Wells College women's lacrosse team overcame a halftime deficit on Thursday, rallying to capture a 13-10 victory over the Hawks from Hilbert College. Wells, who played one man down throughout the contest, improves to 2-7 overall on the year and to 2-2 within the North Eastern Athletic Conference. Hilbert (0-8) remains in search of its first win of the season. 

For the second time in three games, freshman Mackenzie Maloney (Huntington, N.Y.) scored eight goals and one assist for nine points (8-1=9). She also picked up nine ground balls and fired a team-high 17 shots for the Express. Seniors Amber Jordan (Auburn, N.Y.) and Lexie Roberson (Lewisville, N.C.) each scored twice while classmate Andrea Gould (Fulton, N.Y.) struck for one goal. 

Freshman Julia Smith (Guilderland, N.Y.) picked up two assists while senior Lindsay Achzet (Johnstown, N.Y.) also recorded an assist in the tilt. Roberson led all Wells players with six draw controls while Maloney picked up a team-best nine ground balls for her squad. 

Hilbert opened up a 2-0 lead through the game's first 8:01, but Wells quickly tied the game after back-to-back goals from Roberson and Maloney. Another two goal outburst from the Hawks was, once again, countered with two Wells goals from Maloney to draw the score even at four with 6:54 remaining in the first half. 

The Hawks used two late goals to carry a 6-4 advantage into halftime. Through the game's first 30 minutes, Hilbert held the statistical advantage in draw controls (six-to-five) while trailing the Express in shots taken (19-to-12) and ground balls (15-to-14). 

Wells and Hilbert traded goals to open the second half, but the hosts were able to maintain its two-goal advantage with 18:23 left in regulation time. Maloney, however, tied the game at eight with 16:21 with back-to-back free position strikes. Continuing to produce for Wells, yet another Maloney goal was sandwiched between two Hilbert strikes to keep the Express down by a one goal margin. 

The Express took control of the game for good with under 10 minutes remaining as Maloney's 37th goal of the season knotted the score at 10. From there, Wells poured home three-straight goals as Jordan, Gould and Roberson picked up tallies as time expired to create insurance down the stretch. 

Wells goalkeeper Quinn Doubet (Virgil, N.Y.) earned her second-straight goalkeeping victory, making four saves. Hilbert's Allison Austin stymied the Express shooters in the contest, making an impressive 21 saves to keep her team in the contest. However, Wells fired a whopping 42 shots in the tilt while limiting Hilbert to only 21 shots in total. 

The Express also finished with decisive advantages in ground balls (32-to-19), draw controls (16-to-9) and free-position goals (four-to-two). The second half comeback for Wells was sparked by winning 11 of the game's 14 second half draw controls – furthermore, Wells picked up 17 of the game's 22 ground balls in the final half alone. 

Wells returns to action this Saturday, Apr. 16 as it travels to take on Medaille College at 1 p.m. on the road.