WENHAM, Mass.—Late-game rallies have become the norm for Gordon Women's Lacrosse and Tuesday was no different as the Fighting Scots registered a big Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over visiting Western New England, 12-10. The Scots received a hat trick from four different players, including a trio of seniors who recorded their first win over the Golden Bears in their careers—0-5 previous.
The Fighting Scots hot streak runs to three games as Gordon sits at 2-0 in the CCC and 6-3 overall. Western New England dips to 2-6 this season and 0-1 in the league.
The contest was as even as can be for the majority of regulation. Gordon quickly took a 2-0 lead with back-to-back goals for Olivia McCarrick (Glen Burnie, Md.) and Caroline Walton (Irvine, Calif.) in the second minute.
Several minutes passed before Western New England was able to answer the call, but they did so with a 5-1 run spanning 10 minutes. Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored two of the goals during the run for the Golden Bears.
Gordon countered right back with a 3-1 to end the opening half and knot the game at six goals a side. Winer completed her first-half hat trick to record WNE's only goal of the stretch. The Fighting Scots continued the run into the start of the second half with a goal from MC Aston (Greenwich, N.Y.) to make it a 7-6 game, only for Western New England's Rachel Canning (Lincoln Park, N.J.) and Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) to grab the lead right back.
Walton, who was on a tear last week with nine goals in two games, sparked the Fighting Scots into a flurry of scoring over the next 12 minutes. Her goal with 16:15 remaining in regulation tied the game at eight before the two teams traded goals again to make it 9-9.
Gordon owned the next five minutes and put themselves in the catbird seat for an important conference win. McCarrick added her third and fourth goals of the contest, with an Anna Rourke (Hamilton, Mass.) goal sandwiched in between to take a three-goal advantage with fewer than five minutes on the clock.
Canning was able to finish off her fourth goal of the day to make things interesting, but Gordon was able to run the final two minutes off the clock to clinch the win.
Western New England had a 31-24 shot advantage, but the two teams were tied with 20 shots on net. Gordon's Melanie Dwyer (Reading, Mass.) came up with several huge stops on free-position attempts to keep the Golden Bears' attack at bay.
Canning led all players with six points on the afternoon.
Aston had a game high seven draw controls to go with her hat trick.
Gordon bested Western New England for the first time since the 2013 season, when head coach Jane Ward was a junior in the program.
Gordon remains home on Saturday against Salve Regina for a 3 p.m. start. Western New England stays on the road when they head to Bridgewater State on Thursday under the lights.
