ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — Southern Vermont College attempted to overcome a seven-goal deficit Tuesday afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse action at Ferrari Field, but hosting Bard College withstood the Mountaineers' second-half push for the Raptors to win 10-6.
BC took a 7-0 lead into the halftime break before Southern Vermont got its offense going. SVC outscored Bard in the second period, getting to within three late in the game. The Raptor defense maintained the hosts' lead, however, to fend off the Mountaineer comeback.
SVC (2-7) returns home for a Thursday non-league matchup, hosting The Sage Colleges for a 4 p.m. first draw.
Southern Vermont junior captain Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) scored a game-high four goals in the effort while adding an assist, a game-best seven ground balls, a team-high three draw controls, and three caused turnovers. Mountaineer freshman Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, N.Y.) added a goal and two ground balls for the visitors, and sophomore Paige Vitale (Greenville, N.Y.) had another score for SVC.
Junior captain Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) had three ground balls on the afternoon while causing a game-best five turnovers, setting a new career-high for herself while tying the Southern Vermont record for the most caused turnovers in a single game (Orrell).
Freshman goalkeeper Sydnee Julian (Mexico, N.Y.) stopped 10 Bard shots in the loss (1-4).
The Raptors took a marginal 23-18 edge in ground balls while being strong on the draw, collecting 14 controls to the Mountaineers' three. SVC won the turnover battle by a slim 18-17 margin, causing 12 to set a new program single game record as Bard caused just eight of Southern Vermont's.
BC went on top early with a goal just 1:33 into the match, and the hosts would then add four more before the 20:00 mark. Bard scored twice more before the end of the stanza for a comfortable halftime lead.
Orrell broke through to the board with the first goal of the second half, adding another less than four minutes later to make it a 7-2 game. The Raptors got one back before a scoreless drought of 10 minutes ensued. Orrell then tallied back-to-back goals once again, cutting it down to an 8-4 BC lead with her 26th score of the 2016 campaign coming at the 10:47 mark.
Vierstra followed with her third goal of the year, taking an Orrell pass and depositing it into the back of the cage to cap a 5-1 Mountaineer run. Bard extended its upper hand with 4:44 to go, only to see Vitale send home her second score of the season to get it back within three. The 9-6 tally stood through the final stretch, the Raptors ending the game with a horn-beating goal as they snapped their four-game losing streak.