WORCESTER, Mass.—Gordon Women's Lacrosse rebounded nicely with a convincing 14-8 win over host Worcester State on Thursday afternoon. The Fighting Scots broke their first-half slumps with nine goals over the opening 30 minutes of game play to set the tone for the team's third victory of the season.
Gordon saw no side effects from a tough game on Tuesday, as they cruised through the final 15 minutes of the first half to take a commanding lead at the break. In its final tune up before heading to Tennessee for warmer weather, Gordon needed to make a statement against the host Lancers.
The home side scored just 13 seconds into the period on a play off the draw control between Kelly Austin and Mackenzie Little. The 1-0 score stayed that way for seven minutes until the Fighting Scots put a pair of goals home in under two minutes to take a one-goal lead. Anna Rourke (Hamilton, Mass.) put the Scots on the scoreboard on a feed from Olivia McCarrick (Glen Burnie, Md.) before the sophomore attacker scored a goal of her own to give Gordon its first advantage. Hannah Bourk (Barrington, R.I.) assisted on the play.
The score went to 2-2 on another exchange between Austin and Little with 20 minutes to go in the period. After the two teams traded goals again, Gordon went on a rampage over the final 15 minutes to take firm control of the match.
Spurred on by McCarrick's hot stick, Gordon finished the first half on a 6-1 streak. The sophomore added another two goals to put Gordon up 5-3 before assisting on the three straight goals to make it a 9-4 Gordon lead at halftime. Paige Thompson (West Chester, Pa.) scored her first collegiate goal in the 20th minute, while MC Aston finished off two McCarrick feeds. Rourke added the final goal of the half in unassisted fashion.
Gordon never let control get out of their possession in the second half. Worcester State scored the opening goal of the period only for Gordon to counter with a 4-2 run spanning 13 minutes of action. Aston scored her third and fourth goals of the game during the stretch, while Caroline Walton (Irvine, Calif.) and Bourk combined for three goals to put the game out of reach for good.
The Fighting Scots improve to 3-1 entering their two-game trip to Tennessee next week, where Sewanee and Goucher await. Worcester State drops its season opener, but will have no time to dwell as they host Colby-Sawyer tomorrow evening.
Gordon avenges a 19-16 home loss to the Lancers from the 2016 season. McCarrick now has at least four goals and six points in every game this year.
