LEICESTER, Mass. — Southern Vermont College fell 15-9 to Becker College Wednesday afternoon as the two sides opened up their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's lacrosse schedules at Alumni Field.
With the score knotted 3-3 in the first, Becker took to a 5-1 run to close out the half for a lead the hosts would never give up.
SVC (0-3, 0-1 NECC) is back in action on Thursday with a 4 p.m. non-conference start at the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.).
Mountaineer freshman Hailee Walker (Cohoes, N.Y.) scored a season-best five goals to tie the game-high while junior captain Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) added another pair, an assist, a team-best six ground balls and a game-high seven draw controls. Fellow junior captain Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) had a goal and scooped up three ground balls, and classmate captain Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) scored once while tacking on two ground balls and two draw controls to her line.
Southern Vermont freshman keeper Sydnee Julian (Mexico, N.Y.) took her first collegiate decision in net (0-1), stopping 21 BC shots to break the program's previous single-game record of 18.
Becker struck first to start the day's scoring, finding the back of the cage in the opening minute of action for the early lead. The Hawks then padded their upper hand two minutes later with another strike to go in front 2-0. Walker scored her first of the day at the 25:00 mark to get SVC on the board, but BC was able to push it back to a two-goal difference with one of its own almost six minutes later.
Southern Vermont fought back to tie it up as Walker notched two goals in a five-minute span, the first being assisted by Orrell's first helper of the year as SVC played with the man-up advantage. Walker made it 3-3 with 12:41 to go in the first half as she brought the ball in from the midfield and fired it into the upper right corner of the frame for her sixth goal of the year.
Becker would produce a commanding response, however, as the Hawks went on a 5-0 run through the 4:08 mark of the period to go back in front. Orrell notched her third goal of the season with 30 ticks left on the clock, sending the game to intermission with SVC down 8-4.
BC padded its cushion once play resumed, notching the first two goals of the second to go up by six. Lesure got in on the scoring action with her fourth goal of the 2016 campaign coming at the 26:07 mark with a Mountaineer in the penalty area.
Becker recorded the next two to go up 12-5, only to see Southern Vermont put home three consecutive goals in a 50-second span to cut it back to a four-point difference. Walker scored the first of that spurt on a free-position shot, and she then beat the keeper again just 25 seconds later for her fifth of the contest. Nesshoever potted an unassisted tally, her third of the year, to set the score at 12-8 with 18:48 remaining.
The Hawks would get two back to push it up to six once again with 2:38 to go in the game. Orrell notched her second of the day 23 seconds later, but that would be the last SVC score as BC used a free-position shot to register the final goal of the contest for the 15-9 final.