NEWTON, Mass.—Senior Grace Fitzpatrick (Falmouth, Mass.) and freshman Meaghan Albert (Lanesborough, Mass.) netted four goals each to lead the Norwich University women's lacrosse team to a 15-9 win against the Mustangs of Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Cadets improve to 1-1 overall and in GNAC play, while the loss drops the Mustangs to 2-8 overall and 0-5 against league opponents.

The score was tied at 2-2 following the first six-and-a-half minutes of play, but Norwich rattled off six straight goals, bookended by a pair of goals by sophomore Larissa Gokey (St. Johnsbury, Vt.), to give the Cadets an 8-2 lead with 2:09 left to play in the half. Mount Ida's Amanda Bowen tallied a final first-half goal at the 1:36 mark to set the 8-3 halftime score.

The Mustangs brought the score to 8-4 with the first goal of the second half, but Norwich responded with seven straight goals to take a 15-4 lead. The Mustangs rallied with a five-goal run of their own, but it was not enough as Norwich held on for the 15-9 win.

In addition to Fitzpatrick and Albert, the Cadets saw three goals by Gokey, two goals from junior Gina Conroy (Amherst, N.H.), and single tallies by junior Hope Royce (Washington, Vt.) and senior Baylie Lamarre (Tyngsboro, Mass.).

Molly Sheppard led the Mustangs' offense with four goals. Rebecca Beaulieu and Amanda Bowen scored two goals each, while Nicole Batakis added a single goal.

Junior goaltender Rebecca Horgan (Topsfield, Mass.) totaled seven saves in the complete-game effort, while Mount Ida's Sammy Levitt totaled five saves for the Mustangs. The Cadets outshot the Mustangs 33-29 on the afternoon.

Fitzpatrick won a team-best three draw controls for the Cadets, while Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.) and Horgan both posted a team-best four ground balls. Meghan Grenier (Voluntown, Conn.) recorded four caused turnovers for Norwich. Beaulieu won seven draw controls for the Mustangs, while Samantha Basler finished with a game-high five ground balls a team-best four ground balls.

 Norwich returns to action on Tuesday, April 1 when they travel to Simmons college for a 7:00 p.m. GNAC matchup.