VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The Virginia Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team defeated the Gophers from Goucher College 13-12 on Monday evening at Birdsong Field in Virginia Beach, VA.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Virginia Wesleyan 13 - Goucher 12
Records: Virginia Wesleyan 3-4 | Goucher 1-7
Location: Birdsong Field | Virginia Beach, VA

GAME RECAP
The Marlins got off to a strong start scoring the first three goals of the game courtesy of Evelyn Weaver, Helen Kennedy-Butler, and Caroline Engle. Goucher scored a single goal in the first quarter with four and a half to play, but Natalie Dunn scored the last goal of the first quarter to take a 4-1 lead into the second quarter. 

Sam Hill opened the second quarter with a goal 31 seconds into the period off a pass from Michaela Elston. The Gophers scored a pair of goals to pull within two, 5-3, before Engle added her second goal of the game putting the score at 6-3. Goucher again scored two more goals climbing within one goal, 6-5, with 6:30 left in the first half of play. The Marlins went on a four-goal run taking a five goal, 10-5, lead into the halftime break. Elston, Breanna Sviland, Engle, and Kennedy-Butler contributed to the four goal run. 

Coming out of the break the Marlins added two more goals, one each from Kennedy-Butler and Mikayla Szudera, to go up by seven goals with the score sitting at 12-5. The Gophers rallied scoring four goals the remainder of the third quarter to pull within three, 12-9, as the teams headed into the final 15 minutes of action. 

Goucher continued on their run to climb within one goal, 12-11, with nine minutes left in regulation. Nearly six minutes passed before either team scored again and it was the Marlins' senior, Engle, that scored giving the Marlins a two goal lead with 3:49 left to play. GC added one more goal with 1:26 left in the game to close the gap to one goal again, but VWU held on in the final 86 seconds to win the game 13-12. Freshman keeper Kirsten Ivory made some incredible saves to keep the Marlins in the lead and ultimately claim the victory. 

KEY STATS

• Caroline Engle tallied four goals to lead the Marlins, while Helen Kennedy-Butler was close on her heels with three. 
• Breanna Sviland, Michaela Elston, Natalie Dunn, Mikayla Szudera, Sam Hill, and Evelyn Weaver all tallied one goal apiece. 
• Elston led the team with five draw controls while Dunn tallied four.
• Kirsten Ivory (W: 2-2) played all 60 minutes in goal giving up 12 goals while making 17 saves. Ivory also led the team with six ground balls.

UP NEXT
The women's lacrosse team is back in action on Wednesday, March 23, when they host the New England College. The Pilgrims and Marlins will meet at 5 PM for first draw at Birdsong Field.