WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke lacrosse team fell behind 4-0 and 5-1 in the early going before powering past Wellesley College for a 16-12 NEWMAC victory Wednesday night at Butler Stadium.
Senior Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) erupted for seven goals and four assists, while sophomore Juliana Spaulding (Wakefield, Mass.) added five goals, one assist, 11 draw controls, six ground balls, and four caused turnovers, as the Lyons won their second straight game while grabbing their first NEWMAC win in their past six conference games.
Mount Holyoke (7-6, 2-6 NEWMAC) matched its highest win total since the 2019 season with the victory, and also defeated Wellesley for the second straight year.
Charlotte Petersen-Kopman scored seven goals for the host Blue (4-10, 2-7 NEWMAC), and Milica Simic added two goals and four assists.
Wellesley got on the scoreboard first with Simic's 42nd goal of the season scored on a free-position shot 2:15 into the contest. The Blue then retained possession while scoring three more times in a row -- two by Petersen-Kopman, the third by Eliza Wysong -- for the 4-0 lead. Spaulding won MHC's first draw and the teams traded shots before senior Marielle Welch (Silver Spring, Md.) scored an extra-player goal assisted by Bisson for the Lyons' first goal.
Wellesley regained the four-goal lead in short order as Petersen-Kopman scored her third goal with 3:48 left in the period.
Mount Holyoke closed the gap to 5-2 before the first period closed with Bisson feeding Spaulding for the goal.
After a seven-minute scoring lull, Bisson scored unassisted to make it 5-3 with 8:39 left in the second. Spaulding netted her 30th goal with 4:45 left in the half, continuing an eventual run of seven unanswered goals by the Lyons that the Blue couldn't stop until 8:48 remained in the third quarter, when Simic scored to close the gap to 8-6.
Spaulding won the next draw and scored the game's next goal for a 9-6 lead with 6:14 to play.
The Blue made it a two-goal game for the last time as Petersen-Kopman scored a free-position goal to make it 9-7. Spaulding won the ensuing draw and scored again for a 10-7 MHC lead, and sophomore Helena Robinson (Gales Ferry, Conn.) scored her third goal of the game unassisted to open an 11-7 lead going into the final period.
Bisson exploded for five unassisted goals in the fourth quarter. The first two grew MHC's lead to 13-7 and gave her 40 for the season. Wellesley then made a 3-0 run in a span of under a minute, closing the gap to 13-10 with 8:27 left. But Bisson answered at the 7:33 mark, then iced the victory for MHC with two straight goals with 4:39 and 3:28 left to play for a 16-11 lead. Bisson has 45 goals and 43 assists now on the season, ranking third in the NEWMAC in points with 88.
Sophomore Valeria Bolanos (Newington, Conn.) made nine saves for the Lyons.
Mount Holyoke will play at Babson (8-6, 5-3 NEWMAC) on Saturday at 1pm, then conclude the regular season at home against Emerson (4-10, 0-7) Wednesday at 6pm.
