M.I.T. Holds Off Owls, 16-10

MIT outscored Westfield State University, 7-1, during the first 19 minutes of the game, en route to a 16-10 victory in a non-conference women's lacrosse game on Friday night. Senior Cecilia McCormick (Islip, N.Y.) posted four goals, one assist, and two caused turnovers for the Engineers while Marissa Nimeskern totaled two goals, three groundballs, and three draw controls for the Owls.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- A free-position shot by senior Ana Flooks(Weston, Conn.) over a minute into the game followed by a strike from McCormick that was set up by junior Rayna Higuchi (Solana Beach, Calif.)gave MIT the early lead. Alexa Tonelli put Westfield State on the scoreboard courtesy of a free-position goal at the 24:35 mark. Exactly 18 seconds later, first-year Eva Then (Yarmouth, Maine) connected on a pass from classmate Naomi Lutz(Northbrook, Ill.), sparking a string of five unanswered goals. Higuchi capped the burst with back-to-back strikes, giving MIT a 7-1 advantage with 10:57 on the clock. A defensive battle ensued until Caroline Arket ended the Owls' scoring drought with 53 seconds remaining. However, Then countered with a solo effort of her own with four ticks left.

- Nimeskern buried a pair of free-position shots early in the second stanza, narrowing the gap to 8-4, but the Engineers generated four straight goals, resulting in their largest lead of the game with 13:01 left to play. Westfield State responded with a 3-1 spurt, which featured a goal and an assist by Hayley Rodriguez and moved the score to 13-7 with 8:04 on the clock. MIT matched this in a span of 2:31 as Flooks recorded a goal and an assist. A free-position shot by Tonelli along with a solo effort by Sydney Lambert wrapped up the scoring.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Then notched four goals while Higuchi finished with three goals and an assist. Flooks tallied three goals and three assists as Lutz amassed 11 draw controls. First-year Shannon Wing (Westford, Mass.) posted four groundballs while senior Lucy Halperin (Seattle, Wash.) recorded three caused turnovers and two groundballs. In net, sophomore Hannah Adams (McLean, Va.) collected a career-high 14 saves.

- Tonelli had two goals while Lucy Barrettproduced four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Lambert contributed four draw controls and two caused turnovers as Elizabeth Navonitotaled three groundballs. In net, Maria Woodallcompiled nine saves, five groundballs, and three caused turnovers in 53 minutes of action while Sam Simonetty closed out the game with three saves.

- MIT led the way in shots (37-32), shots on goals (28-24), and draw controls (20-8) while Westfield State had a 23-21 edge in groundballs.

- The Engineers were 18-of-19 during their clearing attempts and 5-of-13 in free-position shots.

- The Owls were 17-of-28 during their clearing attempts and 6-of-12 in free-position shots.

UP NEXT:

• MIT resumes NEWMAC play on Wednesday, April 17 when it hosts Emerson College at 4:00 p.m. Westfield State, meanwhile, heads to MASCAC foe Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday, April 13 for a 7:00 p.m. start.

- release courtesy MIT sports info