Southern Vermont Holds Off Women's LAX

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Melodie Orrell scored six of her game-high 10 goals in the second half as the Southern Vermont College women's lacrosse team held on for a 14-12 win over Mitchell College on Wednesday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.

The Mountaineers (3-4 overall, 2-2 NECC) trailed 9-7 at halftime but quickly turned things around as Orrell scored three times in the opening 5:07 of the second half. Southern Vermont never trailed again in the contest as Orrell added three more scores and assisted on another to produce the win.

Emily Lesure added two goals for the Mountaineers while Taylor Brewer and Lauren Nesshoever each contributed one. Ashley Murtha netted eight goals to lead Mitchell (0-8 overall, 0-4 NECC) while Tiana Fillmore chipped in with three.

Southern Vermont jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the game before Murtha led Mitchell back. Her first two scores cut the deficit to one before Christina Jando tied the game with a marker with 17:35 to play in the half. Murtha then gave the Mariners their first lead 15 seconds later after winning the draw and marching in for a score. 

After three goals over a 4:30 stretch gave the lead back to SVC at 6-4, Mitchell responded with back-to-back goals from Murtha and Fillmore to knot the score once again. Orrell put the Mountaineers on top 7-6 with her fourth goal of the half, but the Mariners closed out the stanza with three scores in the final 1:15 to take a two-goal lead into intermission.

Lesure's goal with 19:06 remaining in the second half put Southern Vermont on top for good. Mitchell trailed 12-11 after Murtha's final goal at the 13:30 mark, but she soon picked up her second yellow card of the game and missed the final 10:49. With Mitchell's leading scorer on the bench, Orrell tallied the next two goals to open up a 14-11 lead with 1:19 to go.

SVC goalie Kelsey Carrera made 11 saves against 27 shots to record the win. Mitchell's Taylor Dansereau made 12 stops between the pipes against 40 shots.

Mitchell will next play at Regis College on Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. Southern Vermont returns to action at home against Fitchburg State University on Thursday, April 16 at 4 p.m.