Spartanburg S.C.- The Wofford women's Lacrosse team picked up their first win of the season by coming back for a 15-14 win over Xavier University on Tuesday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium.   

The Terriers (1-4) trailed 12-6 with seven minutes left in the third quarter before a five-goal scoring run followed up by another four-goal scoring run gave the Terriers a 15-13 lead. Xavier (3-3) scored once in the final minutes of the game but were unable to tie the score as a draw control by Leah Hurley allowed Wofford to ice the final 80 seconds.

"It feels good to get the first win," said Wofford head coach Jessie Aguglia. "It was tough first four games so it feels good to come out on top. We're really excited for the future."

The Terriers were led by Addison Witkowski and Emma Stalteri, who each scored three goals for Wofford. Wofford also had two goals each from Brenna Duley and Emma Krasinski and one goal from Carlie Cutinella, Carley Irvin, Ainsleigh Mancini, Emma Gentile and Olivia Abe. Ella Smithers got the win in the net after entering for the second half.

Witkowski added three goals and credited her teammates. "With my line mates and teammates cheering each other on we had the momentum," Witkowski said.

Kristen Courtemanche led Wofford with four ground balls. Barrett Rowe, Cutinella, and Irvin also added two. Abe, Irvin, Hurley and Ainsley Towle each picked up one assist for the Terriers.

Xavier was led in goals by Lola Mancusco with four and Riley Halloran with three.

 "It's really good that we got the first win under our belt," Witkowski said. "It was also great that we came back from a six-goal deficit and we played together and did our parts. It started on defense and transitioned up to get some goals."

"I think we had to take a timeout and recompose ourselves, adjust our defense a little bit. Our draw group did great on all lines, everyone who was in the circle on the draw really changed the game for us because being able to have possession of the ball allowed us to score goals," Aguglia said.

Wofford was able to strike early on as they took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Stalteri. The Musketeers evened up the game at one with a free position goal from Claire Slade. Wofford then followed that up with three straight goals from Krasinski, Witkowski and Irvin.

Xavier was able to close out the first quarter with three straight goals to even the game up after one quarter. Xavier was able to win the second quarter 5-2 and take a nine to six lead into the break.

The Terriers switched to a new goalie in the second half as Ella Smithers made her first appearance of 2023. Xavier scored the first three goals of the second half before a 5-0 Terrier run into the fourth quarter cut the deficit to only one.

In the fourth quarter a goal by the Musketeers Molly Smith extended their lead back to two before a Wofford four-goal run.

Within two minutes Stalteri, Abe, and Mancini all scored to give Wofford a 14-13 lead with under six minutes to play. Abe's goal was assisted by Hurley.

With 2:40 remaining Wofford would get a multiple goal lead for the first time since the first quarter as Brenna Duley scored with an assist from Abé. Lola Mancusco cut the lead to only one with 1:21 to play.

Hurley won the ensuing draw control allowing Wofford to get possession and ice the clock for the first Wofford win of the season.

Quick Hits

• Wofford led in shots 36-21, while 24 Terrier shots were on net to 18 for Xavier.
• Xavier had 18 turnovers to 17 for Wofford.
• The Terriers led 20-16 in ground balls and 18-14 in draw controls. it was the first game this season where Wofford led in draw controls.
• It was head coach Jessie Aguglia's first career win at Wofford.

Up Next
Wofford will begin a 28-day span without a home game, as their five-game road trip will begin against Kennesaw State in Georgia on Saturday March 11, at 3:30 P.M.