SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Salve Regina University came back from an 8-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with a 5-0 run to defeat the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team 11-8 Wednesday night.
Salve Regina (3-10, 2-6 NEWMAC) breaks a tie for eighth place in the NEWMAC standings with Mount Holyoke (3-11, 1-7 NEWMAC), with two games remaining in the season.
Samantha Moleti scored five goals for the Seahawks, including two in the fourth quarter, raising her season total to 15. Edie Threshie added three goals and an assist.
Salve Regina had a 3-1 lead after one quarter, but Mount Holyoke outplayed its visitors in the game's second two quarters.
Junior Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) scored twice in the second period and junior Marielle Welch (Silver Spring, Md.) added a score as the Lyons tied the game at 4-4 going into halftime.
Salve regained the lead early in the third quarter with a woman-down goal scored by Threshie. But an unassisted goal by first-year Juliana Spaulding (Wakefield, Mass.), her team-high 37th of the season, tied it at 5-5. Senior Madison Millyan (Winchester, Mass.) gave Mount Holyoke its first lead at 6-5 with a find from sophomore Mackenzie Hillman (Newington, Conn.).
Millyan scored again one minute later on a wild play, batting in a loose ball after the Lyons lost control of the ball, for a 7-5 Lyons lead with 5:29 left in the third.
Moleti made it a one-goal game with 4:58 left, but Bisson converted a free-position shot to make it 8-6 Lyons in the final minute of the period, completing a 4-1 run.
Salve tied the game back up at 8-8 in the first three minutes of the fourth, and Nora Cooney scored her first goal to return the lead to the Seahawks at 9-8 with 9:20 left. Moleti gave Salve its first two-goal lead since 4-2 with an unassisted tally with 3:50 to go. Holly Sullivan all but put the game out of reach when her score made it 11-8 with 38 seconds remaining.
The Seahawks gained an edge in possession time in the fourth quarter while outshooting the Lyons 11-5, to finish the game wth a 35-26 advantage in shots.
Bisson scored four goals for Mount Holyoke, giving her 28 on the season.
First-year goalie Valeria Bolanos (Newington, Conn.) made 15 saves in an excellent performance for Mount Holyoke; Flynn Kayajan had 12 saves for Salve. Junior defender Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) tallied four caused turnovers and three ground balls for the Lyons.
Mount Holyoke plays its final home game and celebrates Senior Day this Saturday at 1pm against Wellesley.
