Warriors Block Gordon Rally, 13-9

WENHAM, Mass.— A late Gordon rally fell a few goals short as Eastern Connecticut State took a 13-9 victory in non-conference women's lacrosse action at the Brigham Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors expanded a comfortable halftime lead to nine goals early in the second half and held off the Fighting Scots in the closing minutes to get the win.

The Warriors improve to two games above .500 at 6-4, while Gordon dips to 3-7 with its second consecutive defeat following a three-game win streak.

Eastern Connecticut put the Fighting Scots in a deep hole over the first 15 minutes of game play.
Freshman Michelina Pinto (Groton, Conn.) got the scoring started for the Warriors on a nice feed from leading scorer Katie Burke (S. Windsor, Conn.). Pinto found the back of the net again just two minutes later, but this time finishing off a pass from Jenna Glynn (W. Granby, Conn.).

The Warriors scored twice in fewer than 30 seconds on the game clock when Devyne Doran (S. Kingstown, R.I.) and Paige Schneider (E. Lyme, Conn.) got into the action. Before Gordon could blink it was 5-0 with a free-position goal by Glynn with 13:54 remaining in the first half.

On the defensive end, the Warriors limited Gordon's offense to only two shot attempts during the same amount of time.

Junior midfielder Caroline Walton (Irvine, Calif.) finally registered Gordon's first goal of the game in the 19^th minute on a nice give-and-go with Bailey Grinnell (S. Hamilton, Mass.) atop the key.

Burke countered back with her first of two first-half goals, capitalizing on another free-position due to a Gordon foul. With a 6-1 lead, Eastern Connecticut finished the final  10 minutes on a 2-1 run to take an 8-2 advantage at the break. MC Aston (Greenwich, N.Y.) accounted for the other goal of the half for Gordon.

Eastern Connecticut put Gordon on the brink with a 5-2 run to begin the second half, which included Burke and Pinto both finishing off hat-tricks on the afternoon. Walton had her second goal of the day during the stretch.

Gordon held the Warriors scoreless over the final 15 minutes of the game and Cassidy Allen (Rensselaer, N.Y.) got a scoring parade started with two goals. However, a 5-0 run to end the game was not enough to erase the large deficit. Walton finished off her own hat-trick in the final minute of regulation.

Eastern Connecticut finished with a 23-14 shots on goal advantage, with most of that edge coming in the first half. ECSU's Taylor Emmerson (Colchester, Conn.) made four saves to earn the win, while Gordon's Jackie Kiernan (Lexington, Mass.) stopped 10 shots in the losing effort. Gordon's Jessica Castelline (Concord, Mass.) did not score for the first time in 2016, but still managed to set up four goals for her teammates.

Gordon is back in action on Tuesday when they host top Commonwealth Coast Conference team Roger Williams at 4 p.m. The Warriors also suit up on April 12 with a home game against Framingham State.