SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Mount Holyoke College withstood a furious second half rally as the Lyons held on for a 13-11 victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Lyons improve to 2-1 overall, while the Bears are now 0-1 on the young season.
The Lyons came out dominant in the opening half of action, building up a 10-3 lead which included three goals from sophomore attack Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa.) and a pair of tallies from junior attack Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass.).
Despite the gap in the score, the Bears bounced back in the second stanza as junior midfielder Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) recorded five of her game-best six goals in the frame.
MHC opened the final 30 minutes with its 11th tally as senior midfielder Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) scored on the free position.
Geary quickly answered, beginning a 6-0 run for the Bears, with back-to-back free position tallies. Facing an 11-5 deficit, sophomore midfielder Alex Lynch (Plainville, Mass.) fired one in past the reach of sophomore goalie Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio) with 19:11 to play.
Bridgewater State continued to charge as Geary once again posted consecutive goals, including an outstanding tally at full charge toward the net which was fed to her by senior attack Riley Cachelin (Westwood, Mass.).
A score off the stick of sophomore attack Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.) further cut the Lyons' lead, but a timely goal by junior attack Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass.) off the free position regained the two-goal lead (12-9) for MHC with 7:04 to play.
Geary notched her sixth and final goal of the game, corralling an incredible feed from the goal line by Cachelin. Renauld then added her second of the game to make it a 12-11 score with 4:20 to go.
Bell sealed the Lyons victory at the 1:57 mark as she scooped up the ball in the Bears' zone following a failed clear. Taking a few steps to the left, Bell ran toward middle and shot it down the line past sophomore goalie Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.).
Leading the way for MHC was Bell, who recorded four goals and an assist in the contest. She also went 2-3 on the free position with two ground balls and two draw controls. Wagner added three goals, while Ryan had two goals and two assists. Kilburn also added two goals and a game-best eight ground balls and eight draw controls.
For the Bears, Geary had six goals to go along with three ground balls and six draw controls. She was also 2-2 on the free position. Sophomore Alex King (Weymouth, Mass.) had two goals and two assists, while Renauld added two goals and a helper and Cachelin dished out a game-best five assists.
In between the pipes, MHC's Rodriguez made seven stops, while her counterpart, Forman had 10 saves.
The Lyons held the edge in shots (33-21) and ground balls (28-19), while both teams each won 13 draw controls.
Both teams are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday as MHC travels to Western New England (4pm), while Bridgewater State is at UMass-Dartmouth (3:30pm).