Pooley '19 posts five-point game in women's lacrosse setback

Recap, photo courtesy of Hamilton College

Tufts University broke open a tight NESCAC contest with eight straight goals in the second half and the nationally ranked No. 11 Jumbos posted an 18-11 win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Saturday afternoon. Both teams were playing their season opener.

Kara Pooley '19 paced the Continentals with two goals, three assists, four draw controls and three ground balls. Lauren Hamilton '22 scored three goals in her collegiate debut and Tessa Ryan '21 chipped in a goal, two assists and three draw controls. Skyler Simson '20 added a goal, an assist and three draw controls. Charlotte Wynn '20 caused two turnovers and Hannah Burrall '19 made 15 saves.

Colette Smith led Tufts with five goals and two helpers. Kirsten Grazewski and Dakota Adamec contributed three goals and an assist apiece, and Adamec won four draws. Courtney Grygiel recorded a goal and three assists, Maddie Norman found the back of the net three times, Emily Games had two goals and an assist, and Catherine Lawliss registered a goal and two assists.

The Jumbos' Lily Baldwin led all players with five ground balls and six draw controls, and Kathryn Delaney won four draws. Audrey Evers started in goal and stopped four shots and Molly Laliberty turned away three more in 23-plus minutes.

Tufts controlled play by owning a 20-11 advantage in draw controls, and the Jumbos outshot Hamilton 44-26. Tufts held a 7-5 edge at the half but the Continentals tied the score with 27:20 left on goals by Hamilton and Tatiana Bradley '19.

Norman put the Jumbos in the lead to stay and started an 8-0 run with 25:57 remaining. Smith spearheaded the spurt with four goals and two assists. She scored the last three goals in a span of 80 seconds and made it 15-7 with 12:39 to go. The Continentals didn't get closer than five goals the rest of the way.

Hamilton jumped out to a 4-2 advantage midway through the first half as Pooley scored the Continentals' first goal and assisted on the third and fourth tallies. Hamilton took their last lead at 5-4 as Eva Abel '22 scored her first goal as a Continental on a feed from Ryan with 5:29 left. The edge was short-lived as Grazewski tied it for Tufts 17 seconds later, and the Jumbos added goals by Adamec and Games before the break.

Hamilton is back on the field on Saturday, March 9 for another conference game at Colby College at noon. Tufts travels to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a non-conference tilt on Wednesday, March 6 at 5 p.m.