Schenectady, NY – The Williams College women's lacrosse team (2-4) rebounded from an early deficit and then held off a late charge by host Union (2-3) to collect their second consecutive win and second straight road win, 11-9.
"The was a hard-fought and well-earned team win against an athletic and competitive Union team," stated Eph head coach
Alice Lee. "It was a big team effort with different people stepping up in different moments on the match.
Caitlyn Joyce was the anchor of our defense and we had big hustle and momentum-changing plays from
Isabel Arvelo,
Molly Hellman and
Madison Fulcher-Melendy."
Union scored first on a free position goal by Grace Heiting at 10:53 of the first period, but the Ephs quickly responded as
Isabel Arvelo converted on two free position shots to give Williams a 2-1 lead and
Shea van den Broek scored at 2:08 to boost the lead to two, 3-1.
Grace Heiting scored her second goal at 1:36, but that tally was answered 40 seconds later by the Ephs'
Claudia Russell and Williams took a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.
Both teams netted two goals in the second quarter and Williams owned a 6-4 lead at the half. Grace Heiting netted both Union scores and the Eph goals came from
Isabel Arvelo and
Madison Fulcher-Melendy. Arvelo won the draw control to open the quarter and went straight to goal and upped the Eph lead to three, 5-2.
The first goal of the second half came at 10:35 in the third quarter when Union's Sydney McPartlon scored to cut the Union deficit to one goal, 6-5.
Christina Halloran reestablished the Eph lead at 2, 7-5, at 8:43 in the quarter when she slotted home a shot off a feed from
Lily Warendorf.
Union called timeout after the Halloran goal. Seventy-nine seconds after the timeout the Ephs'
Madison Fulcher-Melendy netted her second goal of the game and the Eph lead was back to 3, 8-5. Drew Charlton got a goal back for Union at 4:27 when she converted on a free position opportunity and the Eph lead was now 2, 8-6. At 2:48 Union again took advantage of a free position opportunity and Katie Julien's score narrowed the Eph lead to 1, 8-7.
After the Julien tally Eph head coach
Alice Lee called a timeout. Neither team scored in the remainder of the third quarter and the Ephs took an 8-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the opening minute of the fourth quarter
Lily Warendorf scored for Ephs when she was able to convert of a pass from
Grace Collier and the Ephs were up 9-7. With 11:45 remaining in the fourth quarter Greta Mauer scored for Union with Grace Heiting assisting and the Eph lead was now down to 1, 9-8.
At 8:23
Madison Fulcher-Melendy boosted the Eph lead back to 2, 10-8 when she registered a free position goal.
Union elected to call a timeout with 7:18 remaining in the quarter and trailing by two goals. The Dutchwomen, however, committed a turnover just 30 seconds after the timeout and the Ephs were back on the attack. The Ephs managed to take some time off the clock, but they too turned the ball over and with 6:08 remining Union had the ball.
Grace Heiting made the Eph miscue costly as she scored unassisted with 5:18 remaining and the Eph lead was back to 1, 10-9. Union secured the draw control after the Heiting goal and the Dutchwomen were on the attack in search of the tying goal. The Dutchwomen turned the ball over in just 15 seconds without registering a shot on goal as the Ephs'
Sasha Landau scooped up a ground ball for Williams.
With 4:07 remaining the Ephs called a timeout. Union forced the Ephs to turn the ball over with 3:09 remaining, but Union quickly turned the ball over and the Ephs were again attacking. At 2:00 a shot by
Abby Godwin was saved by Hanah Dubinssky, but once again the Ephs forced the Dutchwomen to turn the ball over with
Grace Maffei collecting a ground ball.
With just 15 seconds remaining
Madison Fulcher-Melendy ended the suspense as she scored with
Christina Halloran assisting to give Williams an 11-9 victory.
The Ephs'
Madison Fulcher-Melendy and Union's Grace Heiting tied for most goals with 4.
Eph netminder
Caitlyn Joyce recorded 11 saves on the night while the Union tandem of Jenna Paszek Hannah Dubinsky registered 9 saves. Ground balls were even at 15.
"Our team is playing with a lot of heart and hustle out there and backing each other up," added Lee. "Looking forward to the next match."
Next up for the Ephs is a home encounter with NESCAC foe Bates on Saturday at noon on Farley-Lamb Field.
