BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Molly Dufresne (Plaistow, N.H.) tallied four goals and assisted on another to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team to a 20-10 win over Elms in a non-conference contest played at Sweeney Field.
With the win the Leopards, winners of two straight, improve to 2-2 on the season, doubling the win total from the program's inaugural season in 2013. Elms dropped its second straight contest to sit at 1-3.
Juniors Jessica Houghton (Billerica, Mass.) and Alexandrea Banks (Ellington, Conn.) and sophomore Pam Mudge (Hooksett, N.H.) each recorded hat tricks for the Black & Gold who found themselves down 2-1 within the first 6:10 of the contest.
A 5-0 run, with two goals coming from Houghton and sophomore Julie Azzinaro (Westerly, R.I.) gave the hosts a 6-2 lead before the Blazers scored three of the next four markers, including one from junior Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.), pulled the Blazers within a pair at 7-5. Two Dufresene goals and a marker by Houghton gave Wentworth a 10-5 edge at the break.
Elms pulled within three at 11-8 by scoring three of the first four goals of the second half as Narey, junior Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.), and junior Lauren Mazza (Agawam, Mass.) each scored in a span of less than three minutes. However, four straight Wentworth markers in a span of 2:16 put some distance between the Leopards and the Blazers.
After Mazza made it a 15-9 contest with 21:46 left, Wentworth went on a 5-0 run to take a 20-9 lead before sophomore Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored with 2:27 left to round out the scoring.
In addition to her four-point night, Banks had a game-high seven ground balls, while Houghton had three draw controls. Junior Robyn Pacini (Stoneham, Mass.) made 10 saves as Wentworth held a 39-25 shot advantage and a 32-29 advantage in ground balls.
Mazza led the Blazers with four goals, while Narey added three and two goals and an assist to go along with six draw controls. Sophomore Sarah Carpenter (Vernon, Conn.) made 13 saves and five ground balls.
Wentworth hosts Wheelock Thursday night while Elms is at Rhode Island College on Sunday.
