Sixth-ranked Colby College Pulls Away from #16 Tufts for 14-9 NESCAC Women's Lacrosse Victory

Caroline Ross scored five goals to lead the Jumbos

MEDFORD - Senior co-captain Kate Pistel (Amherst, MA) and junior Katie Griffin (Duxbury, MA) both scored twice during a five-goal run by Colby at the start of the second half which helped the visiting Mules earn a 14-9 NESCAC women's lacrosse victory at Tufts on Saturday.

Junior Lindsey McKenna (Fairfield, CT) led Colby with four goals including the 100th of her career as the #6 Mules improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in NESCAC. Sixteenth-ranked Tufts, who dropped to 3-2 and 1-2 in the league, was led by a game-high five goals from first-year Caroline Ross (Sewickley, PA).

The first half was played evenly. Tufts had a 3-2 lead when Ross scored her first of the day off a free-position shot at 15:34. The Mules generated the next three, including two by McKenna both assisted by junior Katharine Eddy (Cheshire, CT). Ross scored with 38 seconds left until intermission and it was 5-4 Colby at the break.

Pistel scored twice 45 seconds apart five minutes into the second half to put Colby up 7-4. Griffin's back-to-back goals gave the visitors a 10-4 margin with 15:37 remaining in regulation. The Jumbos stopped the run on a goal by junior Eliza Halmo (Brunswick, ME) at 13:58, but Colby got four of the next five to go up 14-6 after first-year Dana Swaffield (Dover, MA) scored her second goal at 4:05. Tufts tallied three times in the final 3:20, including two by Ross, to complete the scoring.

Eddy won four draw controls and had three assists for Colby, who out-shot Tufts 27-21. Junior Michelle Burt (Woodbridge, CT) started in goal for the Mules and made six saves in 46:50 of action to earn the win.

Junior Emily Wright (Richmond, VA) grabbed four draw controls to lead Tufts. Senior co-captain Meg Boland (New Canaan, CT) caused two turnovers and collected three groundballs. The Jumbos finished with a slight 13-10 edge in groundballs. Senior Tess Shapanka (Sudbury, MA) took the loss in goal, finishing with four saves in 46:50 of playing time.

Colby boards a plane to Florida later today and plays Potsdam tomorrow in Clermont at 4 pm. Tufts is home again on Thursday against Endicott at 4:30 pm.

Game Box Score

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