The Morrisville State College women’s lacrosse team remained undefeated in North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) action Saturday afternoon, collecting a 16-3 conference decision over visiting Wells College on Drake Field in Morrisville.
The victory boasted the Mustangs to a 9-5 overall record, and a perfect 8-0 NEAC record, but meant more to the squad than just a tally in the win column. Morrisville State was also playing for the Vera House in Syracuse, and One Love Foundation in an effort to bring awareness about domestic violence to the college community. Prior to the game, the Mustangs had collected more than $3700 in donations towards the effort, and come final whistle had brought in additional support by those in attendance.
Shelby Wood (Duanesburg, N.Y.) paced Morrisville State with seven goals, while teammate Jessica Young (Clifton Park, N.Y.) added four scores and assisted another two. Cassie Edmondson (Oshawa, Ontario) tallied three and assisted another as Megan Carlin (Pawling, N.Y.) and Meghan Soto (Jamaica, N.Y.) rounded out the leaderboard with one each.
Cailin Dunphy (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) had seven saves between the pipes for the Mustangs, collecting her eighth win of the season.
Three posted tallies for the Express, including Madeline Bass who notched a goal and assisted another in Wells efforts. Savannah Tucker and Bri’Anna Horne each added a score.
Chelsea Dunn had 10 saves in the loss in net.
Young was the first to put a tally on the board for the Mustangs, notching the unassisted score at the 25:22 mark. Tucker answered for Wells not even a minute later to knot the game at one, but the Mustang offense came alive and posted four straight scores over the next 10 minutes for a 5-1 advantage midway through the period.
Following a Horne score at 14:34 for Wells, Morrisville State put two away to make it a 7-2 game with 10 minutes to go in the half.
Wood notched her third of the afternoon at the 5:09 mark, and on the ensuing draw, a collection by Edmondson led to a lightning speed bolt up the center of the field for one of the quickest tallies ever seen on Drake Field, a score just nine seconds later, for the 9-2 halftime lead in favor of the hosts.
Morrisville State dominated the second half, outscored Wells 7-1 to collect the conference win.
The Mustangs held the 34-13 advantage in shots, won the ground ball battle 28-20,
and draw control 12-9.
Morrisville State returns to the field tomorrow for a battle of the undefeated, hosting rival Keuka College at 1 p.m. on Drake Field. The game is a rematch of last year’s championship final; in which the Mustangs prevailed in overtime.