Box Score Recap courtesy of Connecticut College
NEW LONDON, CT - Senior Erin Moran erupted with six goals and added one assist to lead the Connecticut College women's lacrosse team to a 14-13 triumph against 11th-ranked Tufts University at Silfen Field today.
Winners in five of their last seven outings, the Camels improved their record to 5-4 with a 1-3 mark in conference play. The Jumbos moved to 5-4 and are tied with the Camels for eighth place with a 1-3 record in the NESCAC.
Sophomore All-American Meg Raskin posted nine of her 13 saves in the first half in another strong performance between the pipes for the hosts.
Junior co-captain Lacey Hale had three goals and an assist in the victory. Senior Cassidy Lynch had a hat-trick for the winning side. Junior Tina Balzotti and sophomore Anna Jorgensen both contributed with a goal and an assist for the Camels.
Sophomore Madison Barker finished with four draw controls while senior Maggie Hogan contributed with two ground balls, one draw and one caused turnover to anchor the defense.
Rookie midfielder Gabby Vinci accounted for four goals to lead the Jumbos in the setback. Senior attacker Caroline Ross scored three goals and assisted on two others in a five-point outburst for the visitors. Cecily Freliech had two goals and an assist while sophomore Taylor Meek chipped in with a goal and two helpers.
Rookie net-minder Audrey Evers finished with four saves in the Tufts cage. Caroline Nowak had a goal and two caused turnovers in the loss.
Tufts put together a 4-0 run to take an early advantage in the first half. Brigid Bowser and Ross scored goals just 18 seconds apart to ignite the Jumbos on their run. Then, with 17:01 remaining, Meek put the visitors on top 5-2 after Ross set up her up with a nice feed from behind the cage. With 15:27 remaining, Meek made a nice centering pass to Nowak who one-timed a shot past Raskin to make it a 6-2 game.
But the Camels responded with a 4-0 run of their own. Lynch scored two of her three goals to spark the Camels in their rally and Raskin did her part with a terrific save on Vinci's shot with 9:52 to go. With 7:44 remaining in the half, Jorgensen made a nice entry pass to Lynch, who one-timed the ball past Evers to even the score at six.
The Jumbos briefly regained their lead when Freliech made a nice move and buried an underhanded runner with 6:15 to go. But the Camels scored the final two goals of the half to take the lead. Balzotti went top shelf with a free position goal at the 4:02 mark and then Hale made a nice soft high-arching pass over the top of a Tufts defender to Moran, who buried a shot on the doorstep with 2:24 to go and the hosts carried an 8-7 advantage into the break.
Vinci netted a pair of goals in a 50 second span to put the Jumbos back on top 10-9 with 17:33 to go. But with 16:13 to play, Moran forced the seventh tie of the game with her fifth goal of the day that ignited the Camels on another 4-0 run. Hale executed on a nice wrap-around move with 15:32 remaining and then took a pass from Moran and potted her third goal of the afternoon with 9:08 remaining to make it a 12-10 game in favor of the hosts. With 7:24 to go, Jorgensen buried a runner to cap the run and make it a 13-10 contest in favor of the Camels.
But Freliech put in a bounce shot with 6:14 to go to pull the visitors to within 13-11. Then Moran answered for Connecticut College when she went upstairs with her runner at the 5:27 mark for the hosts.
However, Tufts would not go away and with 3:22 to go, Meek assisted Ross for a goal to make it a 14-12 contest. The Jumbos nearly scored again when Bowser made a nice move to break free of the Camel defense, but her shot was saved by Raskin with 2:20 remaining. Vinci made it a one-goal game when she netted her fourth marker with 22 seconds left, but the Camels were able to hold on for the 14-13 victory.
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