WLAX Comes Up Short at Wheelock

BOSTON - An explosive first half featuring 24 goals carried the Wheelock College women's lacrosse team to a 20-10 victory over visiting New England Collegiate Conference foe Mitchell College.

The Wildcats evened their record at 3-3 and improved to 2-0 in the NECC while the Mariners fell to 1-3 and 0-2 in conference play.

In the first half, the goals came early and often as the squads traded four goals in less than three minutes. Just 2:56 into the game, Katie Frade put Wheelock ahead for good off a feed from Georgia Schindele. Frade's score sparked a 4-0 spurt, and the home team's lead would later balloon to 12-4 on another goal by Frade at 13:42 mark. 

Mitchell's Ashley Murtha pulled the visitors back within seven as she sandwiched two goals around a score from Wheelock's Colleen Macdonald. Still, the Wildcats scored four of the final five goals in the stanza to take a double-digit, 17-7 advantage into the break. 

The Mariners opened the scoring in the second half on a shot by Willeen Pun, cutting the deficit back to single digits. However, the visitors would get no closer, and a late goal by Macdonald set the final margin at 20-10.

Murtha led the Mariners with six points on four goals and two assists while Kate McCormack matched her with four scores. Pun netted a pair of goals in the second half, and Gillian MacLellan made six saves between the pipes in the loss. 

The Wildcats were led by Schindele who racked up eight points on a hat trick and five assists. Macdonald and Frade each contributed six goals and an assist while Molly Brennan recorded five points with a score and four helpers. Frade also added team-highs with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Meghan Lewis earned the win in net with eight saves.

Mitchell will next host Newbury College on Monday, April 10 at 4:00 p.m.