Mackin, Wilkinson drive strong first half in Panthers' 20-7 win

ORANGE, Calif. – Freshman Kelsey Mackin and junior Victoria Wilkinson tallied 3 goals each in the first half for the Chapman University women's lacrosse team as they beat the visiting Berry College Vikings, 20-7 at Wilson Field on Thursday. Mackin and Wilkinson were two of nine Panthers to score and two of five that scored multiple goals.

After opening up a 2-1 lead in the first half, the Panthers staged an 11-2 run over the final 22:25 to take a 14-3 lead into halftime. The run was capped by a goal from junior attacker Allie Kontny, who scored both of her goals in the first half and was one of eight Panthers to score before the break.

Despite trailing by a wide margin, the Vikings opened up the second half with three straight goals to bring the score to 14-6. Two of the goals came from sophomore midfielder Rachel Aiken, who scored a team-high three goals in the contest.

The flurry of scores was just about all Berry could muster as Chapman ended the game on a 6-1 run, featuring two goals from freshman midfielder Shelley LaMotte. The lone Berry goal in the final 20 minutes came on a free position shot from Kristan Dziurzynski.

Junior goalkeeper Kara Podesta played the entire game, recording eight saves for her third win of the season (3-0). Mackin and LaMotte led the way with four goals each while sophomore attacker Abbey Messmer added three goals to go along with two assists. Wilkinson, the Panthers leading scorer, scored three times to boost her season total to 28 with her eighth straight multiple goal performance.

The Panthers will take their 6-2 record on the road Saturday as they take on Colorado College at UC Santa Barbara. The next home game for Chapman is Monday, March 18 vs. Puget Sound at 12 p.m.

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wlax/2012-13/boxscores/20130307_mue1.xml

by Ryan Cavinder
Sports Information Assistant

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