NEWBERRY — A second half burst pushed the Newberry womens lacrosse team past Erskine College at Setzler Field on Saturday. The Wolves found themselves in a tightly contested matchup throughout, but managed to pull away at the end, defeating the Flying Fleet 15-12.
The Wolves got off to a quick start as Sophie Moore would find the back of the net within seconds of the whistle, but Newberry would soon learn that they were in for a battle. The two teams traded leads throughout the first half as neither team could establish a defensive strategy to keep out the opposition. Erskine’s Katie Schlagenhauf gave the Wolves some trouble as they she was explosive in the midfield, gaining ground and getting shots on target. Schlagenhauf scored two goals during the back and forth battle in the first half. Newberry’s Sophie Moore would do much of the same as she was able to notch a hat trick within the first 30 minutes of play.
The game would take a turn in the second half, the Wolves came out with a different intensity. After earning a free position attempt, Chloe Wood scored her fourth goal of the game within 30 seconds of the new half. Wood played a crucial role for the Wolves on both sides of the field, she hustled back and forth, maintaining possession by advancing up field. The Flying Fleet would connect on a goal to make the score 9-8, but the Wolves would go on a run in the next minutes to set themselves apart. Julia Hardiman scored her fourth goal of the season after receiving a pass right down the middle of the goal by Marissa Plumer. Hardiman settled the ball and collectively slotted on past the keeper.
Plumer would go on to score two goals within four minutes of each other to extend the Wolves lead to 12-8. This was the largest lead of the game thus far, but the Wolves did not stop there. The second half spurt would keep on going as Hardiman picked up a ground ball near the circle and connected with the back of the net for her second goal of the game. Moore would try to put the game out of reach as she dribbled right up the middle and slotted one home to extend the lead to 14-8.
The Wolves let their foot off the gas for a few minutes and Erskine took the opportunity to capitalize. The Flying Fleet would score three unanswered goals in attempts to make a late comeback. The Wolves were able to halt the comeback as Kelly Martyn scored her second goal of the match, with five minutes remaining. The goal would solidify Newberry’s victory, despite Erskine notching one more goal right before the end of the match.