NYACK, N.Y. - - Trailing by three goals midway through the first half, the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team answered with a run to take control and defeat Nyack, 21-17, in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Moseley Field.
The Wildcats (5-8, 3-3 CACC) snapped a three-game losing streak with a comeback effort on Saturday, defeating Nyack (3-11, 2-5 CACC) and staying in playoff contention.
The Wildcats were trailing 7-4 with 15:09 left in the first half, but rattled off five straight goals en route to a 6-2 run to end the first half. The Wildcats went intot he break leading 10-9. The spurt continued in the early stages of the second half, as the Wildcats scored four of the first five goals and held a 14-10 lead with 20:45 left in regulation. All tolled, the Wildcats went on a 10-3 run over 24:07 of game clock.
Nyack got to within 14-12, but Mariah Spencer and La'Dae Boykin scored back-to-back goals for the Wildcats to keep the Warriors at bay. After the Warriors scored again, the Wildcats rattled off three straight, getting goals from Lashay Ross, Marisa Parker, and Boykin to take a 19-13 lead with 8:35 to play.
The Warriors made one last effort at a comeback, scoring three straight with the last coming with 6:12 showing on the clock, but the Wildcats answered the run with two goals of their own to stem the tide. Leading scorers Lashay Ross and La'Dae Boykin scored back-to-back goals for the Wildcats to put the score back to 21-16 with just 4:52 left.
Ross led the Wildcats with seven goals and 10 draw controls while Boykin led the team with nine points, scoring five goals to go with four assists. Taylor Lambeth contributed a hat trick as well, scoring three goals to go with an assist for four points. Marisa Parker and Mariah Spencer added two goals each.
Defensively, Makailla Spencer led the team with two caused turnovers while adding three ground balls. Sam Foster finished with a team high four ground balls while goalkeeper Maddie Hurm made nine stops for the win.
The Wildcats sit in fifth place in the CACC with three games to play in the regular season. The final week of the regular season starts with a makeup game at Chestnut Hill, rescheduled for Monday night at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. Opening draw is set for 7:00 p.m.