Wheelock Trips Up Mitchell Women's LAX

Recap, photo courtesy of Mitchell College

NEW LONDON, Conn. –The Mitchell College women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-5 decision to Wheelock College on Wednesday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference match-up at Alumni Field.

Emma Marrs led all players with six goals and two assists to pace the Wildcats, who improved to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the conference. Alexah Mellis added three goals and an assist while Alexandra Clark finished with a pair of scores and three helpers. Kate McCormack and Willeen Pun scored two goals apiece to lead the Mariners (5-5 overall, 3-3 NECC).

Wheelock scored five of the first six goals in the contest and dominated possession time throughout.
Marrs scored two goals in the opening 4:11 to stake the Wildcats to an early lead. Mitchell answered behind Pun's first goal of the season with 22:33 remaining in the half, but Wheelock scored three goals over a two-minute span to seize control at 5-1.

McCormack's first goal cut the deficit back to three for the Mariners, but the Wildcats closed the half strong, scoring four goals in the final 5:59. Marrs and Clark each tallied a pair of goals during the stretch to give Wheelock a 9-2 advantage at the break.

Colleen Macdonald and Molly Brennan each potted goals in the opening minutes of the second half to extend the Wheelock margin to 11-2. Although Pun and McCormack each scored to bring the deficit back to seven, the Wildcats responded with goals by Marrs, Mellis and Katie Frade to push the lead to double digits.

Wheelock did a remarkable job defending Ashley Murtha, Mitchell's leading scorer who had posted a pair of 12-goal games last week. Murtha, who was face-guarded the entire game, faced double and triple teams any time she touched the ball. She finished with only five shots in the game and was held scoreless for the first time all season.

Meghan Lewis finished with 14 saves in goal for the Wildcats against 23 shots. Samantha Ryan made eight stops against 27 shots for the Mariners.

Prior to the game, Ryan and Katie McBride were honored in a special Senior Day ceremony. McBride netted a goal in the contest to cap the final regular season home game of her career.

Mitchell will wrap up regular season play at Becker College on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. Wheelock will next host Daniel Webster College on Saturday at noon.