Women's Lacrosse Defeats Rivier, 21-15

Worcester, MA --- Sophomore Jaclyn Lawlor (Westford, MA) netted five goals and added one assist to help lead Worcester State past Rivier, 21-15, in non-conference women's lacrosse action this afternoon at Coughlin Field. 

With the win the Lancers improve to 3-0 and have equalled their win total from a year ago when they finished the 2012 campaign at 3-12. The Raiders fall to 3-2 with the setback.

Both squads traded a pair of goals in the early going of the contest before the Lancers went on a 7-0 run grabbing the 9-2 advantage halfway through the first half. 

Second-year Molly Kilday (Westford, MA) ignited the run by netting her eighth goal of the young season on a free position shot at the 22:01 mark.

Junior Vicki O'Brien (Canton, MA) then sandwiched her second goal of the contest in between a pair of Lawlor markers before freshman Jackie Connors (Ashland, MA), senior Daryl Powell (Beverly, MA), and first-year Kalia Chase (Northbridge, MA) each potted scores of their own to close out the run with 16:34 left in the first stanza. 

Rivier cut into the deficit with two goals over a 12 second span to make the score 9-4 with goals by freshman Elena Reilly (Braintree, MA) and senior Lauren Brett (Otisfield, ME) with just under 14 minutes to play.

The teams each scored two more goals before the horn sounded and the hosts went into the intermission with the 11-6 advantage. 

Powell jump started the Lancers in the second period as they outscored their opponents, 5-3, over the first 13 minutes of the second stanza. She hit home the first tally of the frame, just 1:12 into the half and again on a free position shot with 21:32 on the clock.

The Raiders facing the seven goal deficit, however, made a quick comeback with a 4-1 surge that included markers by junior Rebecca Wickens (Tyngsboro, MA), Brett and Reilly to help the visitor's trail 17-12 just under the 15 minute mark. 

But the Blue and Gold put the game away with a 4-2 spurt over the next 10 minutes of game play as Lawlor bookended the skein with unassisted markers and the last coming with 4:51 remaining.

Worcester State's defense did a great job of running down the clock before Reilly capped off the game with the final tally of the contest with 35 ticks left. 

Powell ended the contest with a trio of goals to go along with one assist and a team best six draw controls.

Kilday, Connors, and O'Brien each added a hat-trick while Chase netted a pair herself and the Lancers saw six players contribute multi-goal games. 

Defensively, Connors finished with five ground balls, four draws and a pair of forced miscues as first-year Katelyn Murphy (Billerica, MA) picked up four balls on the ground.

Brett finished the day with nine total points (six goals, three assists), while Rielly collected four markers, a duo of helpers. Wickens registered four goals giving her 20 through the first five games of the year as she also added one assist and three ground balls.

Reilly and Wickens both recorded six draw controls each as the Raiders edged the Lancers in the category (20-17). Worcester State though led in shots (36-27), in clears (7-11). 

WSU senior netminder Alex Chisholm (N. Brookfield, MA) recorded eight saves in the victory and first-year Danielle Moran (San Diego, CA) stopped nine while absorbing the loss.

With Lawlor's performance and O'Brien's three markers, the pair became the 15th and 16th women's lacrosse players, respectively, to join the 50-point club.

Worcester State returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a 4 PM affair and Rivier travels to St. Joseph's (Maine) on Thursday for a 7:30 PM contest at Deering Memorial Stadium.

The members of the women's lacrosse team wore crimson and gold laces to honor the victims of the Seton Hill tragedy on Saturday, March 16.