WLAX Doubles Up MCLA for First Win

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's lacrosse team picked up its first victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts by a 14-7 final in non-conference action at Alumni Field.

The Mariners (1-2 overall) outscored the Trailblazers 7-0 in the second half en route to victory. Mitchell's Kate McCormack led all scorers with a season-high six goals while Lindsey Fairbank added three goals and an assist. Rachel Green and Brianna Morris paced MCLA with three goals apiece.

Mitchell jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening 4:01 of the contest. Fairbank started the spree with an unassisted tally, and on the ensuing draw Hannah Corrigan marched in for another tally. McCormack then netted a pair of goals just 18 seconds apart, the second coming off a feed from Fairbank.

MCLA responded with goals from Green and Morris to cut the deficit in half. After McCormack completed her hat trick with 16:25 left to play in the half, Green answered with back-to-back scores on free position shots to close the gap to one.

After another score from McCormack gave Mitchell some breathing room, Morris netted consecutive goals to bring the Trailblazers even at 6-6. Fairbank added her second of the half to put Mitchell back in front with 2:09 to go in the stanza, but Andrea Villars evened the game once again in the final minute to make the score 7-7 at halftime.

Both sides had trouble scoring following the intermission, and the game remained tied until McCormack scored off a pass from Francesca Pinard with 17:33 remaining. From there the floodgates opened, and the Mariners scored six more times before the end of the contest.

Pinard and Rachel Barda each found the back of the net twice in the final 15:12. Pinard also finished with a pair of assists.

Mitchell goalie Gillian MacLellan made six saves to record her first win of the season. MCLA's Zoe Elwell faced 34 shots and made 15 saves.

Mitchell will next play at Becker College on Wednesday, April 4 at 4 p.m. MCLA (1-1 overall) returns to action at home against Bridgewater State University on Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m.