CASTLETON, Vt. — The Southern Vermont College women's lacrosse team tallied a goal with 2:57 to go in the game for the Mountaineers to defeat Green Mountain College 9-8 in non-conference action played at Castleton State College's Spartan Field Sunday afternoon.

Southern Vermont (2-4) received four goals, three ground balls and two draw controls from sophomore Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) and three goals and four draw controls from sophomore Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.). Freshman Taylor Brewer (Bennington, Vt.) scored the remaining two goals while also causing a turnover.

Green Mountain (1-10) had five players post tallies on the score sheet. Rebecca Girouard (Fairfield, Conn.) led the way with three goals while Catie Brewster (Essex, N.Y.) notched two goals, two assists, five ground balls and four draw controls. Rachel Aramburu (Meridian, Idaho), Martha Howe (Sunapee, N.H.) and Katie Legnard (Lexington, Mass.) each potted one goal in the effort. Howe was tenacious in the midfield with six caused turnovers and three ground balls. Defensively, Mariah Palmer (St. Albans, Vt.) led all players with seven ground balls.

Mountaineer goaltender Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) recorded her second career victory in net (2-4), making a season-high 16 saves in the win. GMC sophomore Casie Sharp (Newbury, Mass.) suffered the loss (1-9) while stopping seven shots on the day.

Southern Vermont will travel to Mitchell College on Wednesday to resume New England Collegiate Conference play at 4 p.m. Green Mountain will also play next at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, visiting Daniel Webster College for non-league action.

The Eagles' Brewster opened the scoring when she fired home the first goal of the contest on an unassisted effort at the 26:24 mark; she gained the edge on her defender and then beat Carrrera low for the 1-0 tally.

The home side's early lead would hold for nearly 20 minutes with both teams battling hard in the midfield. The Mountaineers finally broke through with just over eight minutes to play when Brewer notched a goal on a free position shot.

GMC responded less than a minute later as Girouard displayed an excellent solo effort, sprinting down the right side and then reversing back across the goal mouth before beating the SVC keeper high.

The lead didn't last long as Orrell knotted the game at 2-2 with 6:09 left the play in the opening frame. Southern Vermont then pushed two more goals past Sharp, opening up a 4-2 lead with 1:21 left in the half.

The Eagles' kept their heads and, with a sense of urgency, converted twice on Brewster passes from behind the cage as she hit both Legnard and Girouard in stride for easy strikes to tie it at 4-4 heading to the break.

With the Eagles leading 6-5 at the 20:26 mark of the second stanza, SVC scored three unanswered goals to regain the lead at 8-6. Orrell and Lesure took advantage of consecutive man-up opportunities with two of the three tallies.

Green Mountain battled back yet again to notch the game at 8-8 with goals from Girouard and Aramburu, but Orrell iced the game with her fourth of the contest at the 2:57 mark. The Mountaineers were able to run out the clock for their second win of the season and first in non-league action.

Southern Vermont converted almost half of its free position shots (4-9) while the teams were even in draw controls with nine apiece.