Ephs take opener with 15-7 win over MIT
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Sophomore Tina Nawrocki scored three goals and assisted on another Thursday as the William College women's lacrosse team opened its season with a 15-7 win over MIT.
Four other Ephs scored two goals in the victory, while first year goalie Julia Schreiber came up with 11 saves in her first collegiate start.
Williams (1-0) will play host to Tufts Saturday at 11 a.m.
"I think we started out sloppily, but by the second half of the first half we were playing better and then in the second half we played even better," Williams head coach Chris Mason said. "So we're happy with this win and we just want to keep improving each game."
Williams overcame its sloppy start to build a 6-2 halftime lead. Senior Sarah Adkins scored two goals and assisted on four others for the Ephs. Britt Spackman, Whitney Thayer and Whitney Kelly scored two goals each for the victors.
Adkins earned her first assist on a strike by Whitney Thayer 2:50 into the contest. Flynn registered the equalizer and Erica Little put MIT ahead courtesy of a free-position shot at the 19:33 mark. Following a caused turnover by Sara duPont, Adkins found Tina Nawrocki for the first of her back-to-back goals. Whitney Kelly increased Williams’ advantage to 4-2 when she connected on pass from Britt Spackman with 8:03 on the clock. Adkins recorded a free-position shot and converted a feed from Nawrocki to increase the margin to 6-2 at the intermission.
The Ephs struck twice during the first two minutes of the second stanza with Thayer and Julia Nawrocki posting the goals. Flynn snapped the string of seven unanswered goals by finding the back of the net at 20:57. Spackman countered with a pair of goals as Anne Marie Burke and Adkins earned the assists.
The Engineers narrowed the gap to 10-4 when Laura Watson went end-to-end with 16:43 on the clock. An unassisted strike by duPont sparked a three-goal spurt that featured a free-position tally from Tracey Ferriter and a blast from Kelly. After Molly McCartin won the ensuing draw for MIT, Flynn quickly went to the cage for the hat-trick.
Tina Nawrocki raised Williams’ lead to nine (14-5) with 7:12 left to play, but the Engineers continued to attack. Free-position goals by Flynn and Stephanie Brenman cut the Cardinal and Gray’s deficit in half (14-7) with 3:15 remaining. The Ephs maintained possession of the ball down the stretch as Alice Nelson capped the scoring inside the final minute.
