MEDFORD, Mass. - The Williams College women's lacrosse team traveled to Boston to face the #2-ranked Tufts University Jumbos, who came away with a 17-9 victory over the 20th-ranked Ephs.
Junior midfielder
Reece Willison led the Ephs with three goals, her second hat trick of the season, just ahead of team leading scorer
Franny Donohue, who had a pair of goals.
Charlotte Cote made 15 saves in goal, a career-high.
The two teams traded goals in the opening minutes, with Tufts jumping out to a 1-0 lead after 1:16, and the Ephs striking back through
Paige Nelson's seventh goal of the season just 1:08 later. The Jumbos then went on a run, scoring five straight goals in 5:29 of game time, taking a lead they would hold onto for the remainder of the game.
Ella Ryan scored her eighth goal of the season with only 13 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Tufts extended its lead in the second, scoring the first four goals of the period, with the Ephs pulling one back late when
Coco Norman scored her 10th of the year, tucking a goal home from a free position.
The Ephs started the second half on the front foot, and outscored the hosts in the third quarter, 4-3. Willison got the first from a free position before Tufts scored, and then Donohue scored both her goals in a row, first from a free position and the second off an assist from
Anna Miller. After Tufts scored two, the Ephs got the final goal of the quarter when
Ainsley Abel tucked home a free position shot with 4:57 left to make the score 13-7.
The hosts put away the Ephs' comeback hopes in the fourth, scoring the first four goals in the session to extend the lead to 10 goals. Williams got the final two goals of the game - both from Willison - to give the final score of 17-9.
The Ephs now hold a 7-3 record overall and 4-2 in the NESCAC, with the next game a non-league matchup coming next week on Tuesday, April 7 against Westfield State at Farley-Lamb Field in Williamstown.
