BOX SCORE

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The third-ranked Colby College women's lacrosse team used a five-goal surge in the second half to pull away from Bowdoin in a New England Small College Athletic Conference battle on Wednesday evening, 17-10. The Mules improve to 7-1 (4-1 NESCAC) while the Polar Bears dip to 6-4 (1-4 NESCAC) on the season.

The teams traded goals in the early going as the teams combined for six goals in the opening 8:24. Tied at 3-3, Colby's Amy Campbell scored twice in a 3-0 spurt for the Mules that gave the visitors a lead they would never relinquish. Colby was able to push their first-half advantage to four goals, 10-6, before Bowdoin's Liz Clegg scored with 14 seconds remaining in the period to trim the lead to 10-7 at the break.

Bowdoin was able to close the gap to two goals, 11-9, when rookies Katie Herter and Clegg scored consecutive goals early in the second half, but Colby responded with their decisive 5-0 run. Heather Nickerson started the run with a tally at 20:19 and when she closed the spurt with another score at 9:16, the Mules had pushed their lead to 16-9. Cary Finnegan, Caroline Atwater and Campbell also found the back of the net in the run.

Katie Sheridan had two goals and five assists for Colby, pushing her career points total to 252. Campbell found the back of the net five times for the visitors while Kathleen Kramer had three goals and an assist. In addition to two goals, Nickerson had three groundballs and two caused turnovers for the Mules, who got 11 saves in net from Sarah Warnke.

Bowdoin was paced by Clegg's four goals and five draw controls. Herter and Lindsay McNamara scored twice apiece for the Polar Bears, while three caused turnovers. Steph Collins-Finn had 11 saves between the pipes. Colby held a 37-33 edge in shots, but boasted a 28-21 advantage in shots on goal for the contest.