NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College women’s lacrosse team scored three of the last four goals against Salem State University, but it wasn’t enough to undo an early lead by the Vikings, who dealt Mount Ida a 14-5 defeat in non-conference action on Thursday evening at Alumni Field.
The Vikings led 8-2 at the end of the first half after breaking a 1-1 tie with five straight unanswered goals, three of them by Erin Riley (Wakefield, Mass.), who led the visitors with a hat trick.
Freshman Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) had four points on two goals and two assists for Mount Ida, while also grabbing three ground balls. Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) also scored twice and picked up seven ground balls while causing a pair of turnovers.
Kelly tied the game at one in the opening five minutes after Courtney Smith (Peabody, Mass.) had opened the game with a goal for the Vikings, her sixth of the year.
Riley scored back to back goals and, in the same minute, Carolyn Woodin (Arlington, Mass.) also tallied to put Salem State up 4-1 before Riley completed her hat trick in a few seconds more than five minutes. Smith netted again in the first half and the Vikings led 6-1 before Kelly’s second goal of the game and team-leading 20th of the year with 4:17 to play ended the Mount Ida drought.
Senior Amanda Nihan (Peabody, Mass.) notched a pair of goals in the second half for Salem State, who opened the period on a 5-0 run to seize control of the game, 13-2.
Paige Giuliano (Braintree, Mass.) and Kristina Conlon (Dracut, Mass.), who had two assists in the game as well, also scored for Salem in the second half.
Mount Ida got eight saves from freshman Jackie Tarsook (Derry, N.H.), but were outshot 29-18 in the game, though they did have an advantage in ground balls (27-23).
Senior Sam Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) had five of those ground balls, caused four turnovers and scored the final goal of the game for the Mustangs, her third of the year.
The Vikings, who got nine saves from senior Jenn Toussaint (Reading, Mass.), had a commanding lead in draw controls (16-5), thanks to eight draws from Giuliano.
Defensively, Dailey Hancock (Stoughton, Mass.) led Salem State with five caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Mount Ida (1-5) returns to action this Saturday when they begin Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 1:00 pm game at Saint Joseph (CT).
The Vikings improve to 2-2 and will host Wheelock College next Monday at 4:00 pm.
