BOSTON, Mass. (March 4, 2026) – Sophomore midfielder Laina Gustafson scored two of her season-best four goals in the final 2:30 of regulation to lift Emerson College to a 12-11 comeback win over the University of Massachusetts Boston in a non-conference women's lacrosse matchup at Lester Rotch Field tonight.
Gustafson's two late goals capped an Emerson rally from a two-goal deficit in the final 8:40 and she also collected a team-best seven draw controls. Senior Ellie Spotts finished with a season-high 17 saves in the Lions goal with four ground balls and an assist for the first point of her collegiate career.
Sophomore Laura Lovell also totaled four points for the Lions with two goals and two assists, adding a caused turnover and four ground balls, while junior Ava DelliCompagni netted three goals with four draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior Holland Rutter chipped in with two goals and an assist, a caused turnover and three ground balls.
Senior Teresa Sheedy and junior Ava Duffy each scored four goals to lead UMass Boston, with Sheedy also dishing an assist and collecting seven caused turnovers, seven ground balls and four draw controls for the Beacons. Senior Elizabeth Crowley finished with seven saves and three ground balls in the UMass Boston goal.
Spotts made a season-high 17 saves and dished an assist along the way in the Lions goal (PHOTO BY Andrew Monson) |
Sheedy led UMass Boston to its largest lead of the contest, setting up Duffy's fourth goal of the night 2:20 into the fourth quarter and then netting her fourth four minutes later to give the Beacons an 11-9 lead with 8:40 to play. Emerson rallied with three goals over the final seven minutes to remain undefeated after three games for the second-straight year.
Lovell drew Emerson back within a goal with her second of the game with 6:52 to play and then Gustafson forced the fifth deadlock of the night with her third goal with 2:30 remaining. Gustafson followed with her fourth with a free position goal with 63-seconds left and then collected the ensuing draw control to allow the Lions to run the clock out and seal the win.
Emerson grabbed an early lead on goals from DelliCompagni and Rutter before UMass Boston responded with three straight, including a pair by Duffy, to take its first lead (3-2) with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. Junior Miranda Tanguay's first career goal knotted the game with 3:52 to play in the opening frame and sparked a 5-1 run to open a 7-4 lead after back-to-back goals from DelliCompagni to close out the first half, the second of which was set up by a long pass from the defensive end from Spotts with 23-seconds on the clock.
UMass Boston outscored Emerson 5-2 in the third quarter to draw even (9-9) heading to the fourth, taking its second lead of the night (9-8) with a Duffy goal with 3:36 on the clock, while Sheedy scored twice in the frame.
Up Next
Emerson (3-0, 0-0 NEWMAC) returns to action on Friday when it visits Gordon College for a non-conference matchup at 6 p.m. The Lions next home game is on Saturday, March 14, when they open NEWMAC play against Salve Regina University at Rotch Field at 1 p.m. UMass Boston (0-2, 0-0 LEC) visits Suffolk University on Saturday at noon.
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