The Emerson women’s lacrosse team defeated the Gordon College Fighting Scots, 19-12, earning their second win of the season and boasting a 2-0 record.
The matchup versus Gordon was planned for about a week earlier, but was postponed due to weather-related safety issues. But, the Lions still faced pouring rain on March 6 as they stepped onto the field.
Emerson notched the first two goals, with senior midfielder Ava Selby and first-year attacker Stella Huberlie getting the Lions on the board. However, after a clean passing sequence up the field, sophomore midfielder/attacker Holland Rutter received the first of Emerson’s eight cards with a green, the ball was turned over to the Fighting Scots, and Gordon scored, making the game 2-1 with 9:02 left in the quarter.
The Lions fought back as senior attacker Callie Krosin got the ball in the net only 20 seconds later, but Gordon retaliated and made it a 3-2 game halfway through the quarter.
The Fighting Scots got possession in Emerson’s attacking 8-meter area, but the Lions executed a clean check and regained possession. However, the back-and-forth continued as Krosin was handed a yellow card and Gordon tied the game with six minutes left.
After a timeout, first-year attacker Laura Lovell scored unassisted and junior goalie Ellie Spotts made a save, but Gordon continued to counter and tied the game 4-4 on a diving 8-meter shot.
The Lions closed out the first quarter with some impressive draw controls from sophomore midfielder Ava DelliCompagni and first-year midfield Laina Gustafson, which resulted in a quick goal from senior midfielder Grace Danehy. Huberlie rode the goalie tightly on clears and the quarter ended with the Lions up one, 5-4.
“I think our draw controls were the strongest they’ve been all season,” Gustafson said in an interview with The Beacon. “I know we’ve only had two games but the improvement from the scrimmage to this game in the draw controls was outstanding.”
The second quarter began with a tough 15 minutes of back-and-forth play, with neither team able to lead by more than one goal at a time. A couple more cards for Emerson and a Gordon goal set a dejected tone to start, but sophomore defenders Miranda Tanguay and Sydney O’Hara started long passing sequences that kept the Lions competitive.
After Gordon called a timeout with just under 10 minutes left in the quarter, Spotts saved an impressive 8-meter shot and Selby, junior defender Samantha Bowen, and Krosin ran the ball up the field, culminating in a low shot that flew right by the Gordon goalie.
Another yellow card for DelliCompagni ended her time in the game, and forced other players to step up on draw control. Gordon scored immediately afterward, but Emerson answered and Gordon tallied a second goal in under a minute to make the game 7-7 with four and half minutes left in the half.
Emerson’s defense weathered the storm and Gordon received their first and only card of the game. The Fighting Scots persevered while man down and took the lead with 2:37 left in the quarter. Selby tied the game 8-8 with another low shot in the last few seconds of the half.
The Lion’s energy changed after halftime, as Rutter tallied her first goal of the season 30 seconds into the quarter. Gordon scored one more goal off of an 8-meter shot, but the Lions were a changed team.
Spotts made another nice save that turned into Selby’s fourth goal of the game, followed by a tough shot and goal from the 8-meter for Gustafson, and another unassisted goal for Lovell. With a score of 12-9, and continued strong performance on defense from Tanguay in high-pressure man, the Lions held their first lead of more than one goal since the start of the game.
Gordon scored once more, but a behind-the-goal pass from Huberlie to Lovell and a nice carry through stick traffic from Rutter with a pass to Gustafson kept the Lions on top, 14-10, at the end of the third.
Emerson continued their momentum into the fourth quarter, with two more nice saves from Spotts, and three more goals from Gustafson, Selby, and Danehy made it a 17-10 game with 10:37 to play.
Gordon snuck a bounce shot in at 9:39 after a turnover. Tanguay received Emerson’s eighth and final card, and the confusion of missing a defender caused a couple of offside calls for the Lions that stunted their momentum.
Gordon scored one more goal on an 8-meter shot, but with the rain coming to an end, the Lions were unstoppable. Krosin started a clean passing sequence that ended with a Danehy goal. Spotts made two more saves and Danehy scored again with 1:23 left in the quarter to push Emerson to a powerful 19-12 win.
Despite a close game in the first half, the players recognized the energy shift after halftime that led them to pull out a win.
“In the second half, we were passing the ball a lot more efficiently,” Gustafson said. “We had to recover from the rain, but we pulled it together.”
Many younger players also recognized the leadership of captain Krosin, and performance of captain Selby that helped the team pull through and win.
“Callie kinda gave us a pep talk [at halftime],” Tanguay said. “We need to just take a breath, clean up our passes and settle it everywhere, but like [really] settle on attack, because we tend to throw away the ball, especially when we get flustered.”
“Ava [Selby] got five goals, which was insane,” O’Hara added.
Danehy, the third captain, also had a dominant performance, scoring four goals. The two captains finished as the top two goal scorers for the game.
The team also emphasized their perseverance through tough weather conditions.
“Our midfield transitions, for how slippery the ball was, were very good,” Rutter said.
The Lions play their next home game on March 22 at 1 p.m. against Mount Holyoke College. The matchup will bring attention to mental health within the student-athlete community, designated as the Morgan’s Message game.
