UTICA, N.Y. – The Albright Lions women's lacrosse team used a strong first half to earn a 15-7 win over Wellesley at SUNY Poly on early Sunday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 4-2 on the season as they went 2-0 in the SUNY Poly Tournament. Meanwhile, the Blue fall to 1-3 overall on the season.
 
Sophomore Lauren China opened the game with a goal at the 29:05-mark to give the Lions the early 1-0 lead, and was followed just 15 seconds later by first-year Chloe Fornoff to make it a 2-0 game. The Blue cut the lead down to 2-1 at the 24:13-mark before senior Kelly Baumann and China tallied back-to-back goals, giving the Lions a 4-1 lead at the 18:11-mark of the first half. Wellesley scored at the 14:25-mark to make it a 4-2 game, but the Lions closed the first half out with four-straight goals to take an 8-2 lead into halftime. Sophomore Ashleigh Tortorice began the run with a free position shot goal at the 11:27-mark before Baumann netted her second goal of the half at the 8:08-mark. First-year Abigail Hai registered her first goal of the game at the 6:49-mark on a free positon shot, and Baumann capped the half with a free position shot goal of her own at the 1:59-mark.
 
The Lions continued their scoring run into the second half as sophomore Abbie Moist scored at the 24:47-mark off a pass from classmate Marisa Cocca. China extended the Lions lead to 10-2 just 1:31 later on a free position shot goal, her third of the game. The Blue ended the run at the 20:13-mark of the second half with a free position goal, and converted a second free position shot just over a minute later to cut the Lions lead down to 10-4. However, the Lions answered with back-to-back goals from Fornoff and sophomore Maddie Taylor within a span of 1:34 to take a 12-4 lead at the 16:09-mark. China netted her fourth goal of the game shortly after a Wellesley goal at the 13:21-mark to put the Lions up 13-5. Each team would trade two goals for the final portion of the game as Baumann scored the Lions final two goals, giving her four on the afternoon.
 
Albright held a sizable 39-16 shot advantage for the game, and a 28-13 advantage in shots on goal. The Lions held a 27-12 edge in ground balls, and forced 24 Blue turnovers. Junior goalkeeper Terae Mason earned the win after making six saves in the full 60 minutes, while Wellesley goalkeeper Lorna Li suffered the loss after making 13 saves in the entire 60 minutes. Baumann and China each tallied six points on the afternoon with Baumann scoring a game-high five goals. Baumann also caused four turnovers in the win.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, March 14^th when they will travel to face Elizabethtown at 1 p.m.