BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Sarah Galan (Colchester, Conn.) scored a season-high seven goals to propel the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team to a 17-13 victory over Wellesley College on Wednesday evening at Sweeney Field.
Junior Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) and sophomore Emily Rogers (Pembroke, Mass.) also booked multi-goal games en route to Wentworth's first victory over a NEWMAC team, as the Leopards remain untouched at 4-0 in its best start in program history.
Galan wasted no time igniting her offensive surge, finishing a feed from classmate Jorgie Pashalian (Cranston, R.I.) to open the scoring in the first two minutes. At 23:29, junior Julie Dam (Milford, Mass.) converted on a free position shot to open the gap 3-1, but Wellesley then had an answer for each Wentworth attack, pulling with two goals, 7-5, with 4:07 to go in the half. Paradis and Galan netted three combined goals over the final 3:38, holding Wellesley to just one from Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) to lengthen the gap 10-6 at halftime. Sophomore Lily Kuhns (Gloucester, Mass.) was rock solid in net for the Leopards, making 10 saves in first-half action.
Each team booked seven goals in the second half, while Kuhns made eight more saves to keep Wentworth out in front. Kuhns led a solid defense to the Leopards' fourth straight victory, as the Black & Gold fought off a one-goal lead, 10-9, with 27:28 left in regulation. The Blue came firing out of the gates to start the second half, scoring three in a row from Ellie Chalphin (Philadelphia, Pa.), Eleanor Mallet (Berwick Maine), and Persky, but the Leopard trio of Galan, Rogers (3) and Paradis (2) squandered the chance of a Wellesley comeback with six unanswered goals.
Rogers finished with five goals and won 10 draw controls, two away from her career-high set last season. Paradis booked four goals while Dam netted one to round out Wentworth's offense, while sophomore Alana Lauersen (York, Maine) paced the defense with five ground balls.
Persky led the Blue with seven goals, one assist, and five ground balls. Mallet finished with a hat-trick, while Marika Dy (San Mateo, Calif.), Kat Gallison (Portsmouth, R.I.), and Chalphin accounted for the remainder of Wellesley's scoring. Chloe Tucker (San Ramon, Calif.) suffered the loss in net for the Blue with four saves in first-half action.
Kuhns backstopped the Leopards with a season-best 18 saves, and moves to 4-0 in between the pipes.
Wentworth looks to keep the wins rolling next Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. non-conference game vs UMaine-Farmington at Sweeney Field.
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