SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Senior Emi Bisson had three goals and four assists as the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team defeated Clark University 9-6 on Wednesday night, for the Lyons' first-ever win over their NEWMAC rival in five meetings.
Mount Holyoke (5-2, 1-2 NEWMAC) has its most wins since the 2019 season, while Clark (2-5, 0-2) remains winless in NEWMAC play. The visiting Cougars had won the teams' first four contests, beginning in 2022.
Bisson (Chester, Conn.) figured in seven of the Lyons' nine goals in the game, including the team's first five goals in the game. She fed sophomore Juliana Spaulding (Wakefield, Mass.) for MHC's first goal in the game's first minute, then fed junior captain Mackenzie Hillman (Newington, Conn.) on back-to-back goals for a 3-2 lead.
Bisson then tallied two goals of her own, both unassisted, as the Lyons took a 5-2 lead.
Elizabeth Cacciapaglia scored on the game's only free-position shot with 2:29 left in the second quarter. Cacciapaglia scored her third goal with 10:51 remaining in the third quarter to close MHC's lead to 5-4.
Mount Holyoke responded with a goal by senior captain Elle Mader (Cincinnati, Ohio), assisted by Spaulding. Senior Marielle Welch (Silver Spring, Md.) tallied her fourth goal of the season with Bisson's fourth assist of the game with 5:35 to go in the third. Fifty seconds later, Bisson found the back of the net with her third unassisted goal for an 8-4 advantage that MHC took into the final quarter.
Mader scored her second goal with an assist from sophomore Helena Robinson (Gales Ferry, Conn.) to make it a 4-0 Lyons run and a 9-4 lead.
The Cougars closed the gap by two goals with scores by Sydney McMonagle at the 6:22 mark and an unassisted coast-to-coast goal by Jasmine Peters with 4:49 remaining in the game. But Mount Holyoke held Clark off the rest of the way, in part by preventing the Cougars from clearing the ball on all four of their attempts in the final period.
Mount Holyoke held slight advantages in shots (25-24), draw controls (10-8), and turnovers (21-26).
Hillman scored two goals and had three caused turnovers and three ground balls for the Lyons. Mader had two goals and two ground balls. Spaulding had a goal, an assist, two caused turnovers and six draw controls.
Ella Forsman made 10 saves for Clark in the loss. For Mount Holyoke, sophomore Valeria Bolanos (Newington, Conn.) made eight saves.
Mount Holyoke plays at MIT Saturday at noon; Clark plays at Wheaton Saturday at 1pm.
