Worcester, MA- In their return to Northeast action, the Worcester State Women's Lacrosse team (5-3, 0-0) will travel to Johnson & Wales for a 5pm battle. Last season the Lancers fell to the Wildcats 13-8 in their return from Spring Break action at home and hope to flip the script tonight in the meeting.

Final

Worcester State: 12

Johnson & Wales: 15

How it Happened:

The action would kick off slow and steady in this tight matchup with Johnson & Wales recording the first goal three minutes into the game after early back and forth pressure. It would take nearly four minutes later for Worcester to tie up the game off a senior Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, MA) as the offense raced down the field in a quick counter attack. Scoring would happen in a flurry over the next few minutes with the Wildcats recording their second followed shortly with junior Abigail Vincent (Lakevile, MA) receiving the sophomore Madigan Kelley (Bourne, MA) draw control and bursting to the cage. As the final second clicked down on the first quarter, Johnson & Wales would record goal number three.

Just over a minute into the second Kelley would assist her second goal of the game as senior Abbie Wing (Griswold, CT) would receive the pass off the ground ball to tie the game up at 3. The Wildcats would record three unanswered before Worcester would grab goal number four as junior McKayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) would get the free position opportunity and goal. Two more J&W goals would carry an 8-4 score into half.

Worcester would kick off their comeback bid quickly in the third as Kelley not only recorded her career 100th draw control but then was awarded a free position attempt that she converted into a goal. Fisher  would record goal six just under two minutes later off an assist from sophomore Kerry Brown (Billerica, MA) to cut the lead to 8-6. The Wildcats would respond with a goal of their own before Worcester would record number seven off a free position  goal from Brown. Two more Wildcat goals would put the score at 11-7 but Wing and Fisher would combine for goal eight for the Lancers. With just four minutes left in the third Worcester would close the gap to just two goals as Fisher would work her way into the zone and sneak one past the goalie. Fisher and Brown would each add another goal before the close of the quarter to tie the game up 11-11 and looking to claim the victory in the fourth quarter. 

With the opening two minutes of the quarter the Wildcats would claim the lead and Vincent would collect a pass from Wing to bring the game back to a settled score. Worcester would put the pressure on but Johnson and Wales would sneak in three more goals in the quarter to grab a slight lead as the final minutes clicked down. Worcester would give it their all to regain control but the Wildcats would hold off the charge for the 15-12 final.

Fisher would lead the Lancers with five points on the night with four goals and one assist.

What's Next:

Worcester State (5-4, 0-0)  is back in action at 11am on Saturday when they host their conference opener versus Bridgewater State.