GREENWOOD – The Lander women's lacrosse team earned its third consecutive win on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Van Taylor Stadium over Young Harris, 17-6.
Lander (3-1) was led by
Brooke Kelly's four-goal game, and she was closely followed by
Mickey Burnett's three scores.
Five members of the Blue and Gold scored twice:
Ella Benson,
Kylie Fragala,
Caroline Nicholson,
Izzy Olson and
Sophie Warren. Olson's three assists gave her a team best five points.
Kelly also led the team in draw controls with an impressive nine. On the defensive side of the field,
Autumn Huskey caused four turnovers and grabbed as many ground balls to continue her noteworthy campaign.
Kaia Morey and Burnett each caused three Mountain Lion turnovers.
Kelly got the scoring started a mere 1:47 into the day off a feed from Huskey. Olson made it 2-0 three minutes later on the woman-advantage by successfully converting a free-position attempt.
Kelly tried her hand at a free-position opportunity and also found the back of the net to push the Lander lead to three just five-plus minutes into the game.
Three more goals – from Warren, Kelly and Burnett – staked the Bearcats to a 6-1 lead after 15 minutes.
Benson's first came 3:17 into the second quarter, and the freshman Nicholson scored her third collegiate goal with 10 minutes left until halftime for an 8-1 advantage.
Young Harris (1-2) scored the next two before Burnett and Nicholson each added their second strikes for a 10-3 margin. Olson increased the lead to 11-3 with less than a minute remaining in the half.
The teams traded goals over the first nine minutes of the third quarter as the score read 13-5. Warren scored her second on a free-position chance and Fragala tacked on a free-position of her own with 1:57 to go in quarter No. 3.
Burnett and Kelly rounded out Lander's scoring two minutes apart in the final quarter.
Lander will next make the short trek down the road to Newberry on Wednesday (Feb. 19) for a 3 p.m. tilt with the Wolves.
