The Colby women’s lacrosse team split two decisions this past week in New England Small College Athletic College (NESCAC) play.

On Wednesday, April 6, the eighth-ranked Mules traveled to Bowdoin to take on the 14th-ranked Polar Bears and fell 10-9 in overtime. First-year attacker Lindsey McKenna had a game-high five goals.

Casey Thomas ’11 had three goals for Colby, and Tess Petesch ’13 added a goal and an assist of her own. Sarah Lux ’14, who was named the Synapse Sports Division III Rookie of the Week, also contributed two assists. Lux has nine goals and 14 assists to date this season and is the second Mule to earn national honors (Katie Griffin ’14 was recognized a few weeks ago).

Although two consecutive goals from McKenna gave Colby an 8-7 lead in the second half with just two minutes remaining, the Mules could not prevent the Polar Bears from tying the game. In overtime, a goal from Thomas kept the Mules in play until Bowdoin’s McKenna Teague scored the winning goal for the Polar Bears with six seconds remaining, making the final score 10-9.
Lisa Hoopes ’13 led the Mules’ defense with four groundballs and two forced turnovers. Tri-captain Lexi Crook ’11 also had four groundballs.

The Mules dominated against the Wesleyan Cardinals, securing a 13-7 win. Lux had four goals and three assists in the contest, and McKenna had three goals and one assist. Thomas added one goal and three assists, and Hilary Barr ’13 added a goal and an assist.

The Mules climbed to a 7-1 lead early in the game, with scores from McKenna, Thomas, Barr and Kirsten Karis ’14 with over 18 minutes left to play in the first half.  Although Wesleyan’s Kaylin Berger was able to put her team on the scoreboard, two goals from Lux and another from tri-captain Katie Briody ’11 upped the Mules’ lead to 7-1 with 11:49 to play in the half. The Cardinals scored three times before the end of the half, and Lux scored her third goal to bring the score to 8-4.

Although the teams went scoreless in the first eight minutes of the second half, Colby rallied to score five times, with two from McKenna and one each from Lux and Catherine Kahl ’13, increasing their lead to 13-4.  Wesleyan scored the final three goals, bringing the final score to 13-7.

Defensively, Crook led the Mules, causing five turnovers, four groundballs and three draw controls. Kate Pistel ’13 caused two turnovers and three groundballs, while Lane McVey ’12 had one assist, four groundballs and caused one turnover. Petesch had three draw controls. In goal, Sarah Warnke ’11 had seven saves and one caused turnover.

Colby will travel to Amherst College next Saturday, April 16 to take on the 18th-ranked Lord Jeffs in the team’s next NESCAC contest.