SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Juliana Spaulding scored three second-half goals, including the game-winner with 3:10 remaining in the game, and Emi Bisson totaled four goals and four assists as the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team defeated Suffolk University 13-12 in an exciting and evenly played non-conference game Wednesday night on the MHC Turf.
Mount Holyoke is 3-0 for the first time since 2012 with the win, while Suffolk drops to 0-2.
Carley Ehwa scored a game-high six goals on just seven shots for the visiting Rams. Julia Dickinson scored three goals and Zoe Peckham had a goal and two assists.
Charlotte Guziejka made nine saves in goal for Suffolk, while sophomore Valeria Bolanos (Newington, Conn.) had eight saves for Mount Holyoke, which had a 29-28 edge in shots, 19-17 in ground balls, and a 13-18 advantage in turnovers. Suffolk won 14 of 27 draws.
Mount Holyoke had an early 3-1 advantage with two goals by Bisson and a third goal by Spaulding (Wakefield, Mass.), assisted by Bisson (Chester, Conn.). Suffolk responded with four straight to take a 5-3 lead with 11:06 to go in the first half. A free-position goal by Mount Holyoke first-year Grace Bird (Deerfield, Mass.) made it 5-4, but Ehwa scored three times in the last nine minutes of the first half to give the Rams an 8-5 lead at the half.
Bisson closed the gap to 8-6 to start the third, but Dickinson and Ehwa responded with back-to-back goals for a game-high four-goal lead for Suffolk (10-6) with 7:59 left in the period.
Spaulding won the ensuing draw and surged down the middle for the score just nine seconds later. Spaulding pulled off nearly the identical feat with 4:18 remaining in the third, piggy-backing on a free-position goal by sophomore Helena Robinson (Gales Ferry, Conn.) to close to gap to 11-9 entering the fourth quarter.
Bisson factored in three straight goals to start the fourth quarter, returning the lead to Mount Holyoke at 12-11 for the first time since the score was 3-2. Bisson fed first-year Molly McSharry (West Orange, N.J.) to make it 11-10, then scored unassisted to even the score, then assisted senior Elle Mader (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 8:52 left for a 12-11 Lyons lead.
Dickinson evened the score again with an assist from Peckham with 6:10 left in the game. With under four minutes left in the game, Robinson and first-year Rory Bernardo (Oaklyn, N.J.) combined to create a Suffolk turnover in the Rams' defensive third. Spaulding collected the ground ball, and MHC called timeout.
With 3:10 to go, Spaulding picked the ball up off the ground outside the circle, then charged downhill at the Rams goal, flipping the ball inside the high part of the net for the go-ahead goal.
Suffolk won the ensuing draw but turned the ball over with 2:28 to go in the game, and the Lyons ran out the clock to preserve the win.
Suffolk will host UMass-Boston Saturday at 12pm; Mount Holyoke will next host Gordon College on Monday at 6pm.
