WORCESTER, Mass. - Trailing 7-2 late in the first quarter, the Western Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team rallied to down non-conference host Worcester State University, 16-13, on Wednesday evening at John F. Coughlin Field. Senior midfielder Vicky Gracy (Bethel, Conn.) led the comeback with a game-high five goals and two assists. 

Sophomore midfielder Faye Junge (Centerport, N.Y.) added four goals and one helper, while classmate attacker Madison Ratchford (Ridge, N.Y.) chipped in with a hat trick for the Wolves. 

Molly Witkowski led the Lancers with four scoring strikes, while Shea Jarvis produced a trio of goals. 

The visitors outshot the hosts by a 39-28 margin. However, Worcester State converted seven free-position opportunities to keep the contest close. 

Down 4-0 less than four minutes into the contest, the Wolves got on the board when senior attacker Colleen Crotty (Peabody, Mass.) found the back of the twine, unassisted. Moments later, Gracy netted an unassisted marker before the Lancers struck back with another pair of scores. Crotty hooked up with Gracy with four seconds remaining on the clock, concluding a wild opening quarter while slicing the Worcester State advantage to 7-3. 

The Wolves' surge continued in the second as they rattled off five-straight goals. Gracy notched the first before Junge tallied three consecutive strikes. Gracy then wrapped up the run with yet another score giving WestConn its first lead of the game, 8-7. But the hosts retaliated with a pair of goals before halftime to regain a 9-8 advantage.

Junge evened the count at 9-9 just 21 seconds into the third but the Lancers countered with a trio of tallies to widen their lead to 12-9 midway thru the third. However, the Wolves rallied yet again. This time they erupted for a staggering 7-0 run to pull ahead 16-12 with just 2:21 left in regulation. Gracy canned her fifth goal of the game to begin the barrage before graduate student attacker Alexa Riggio (North Massapequa, N.Y.) connected with the net for her second marker of the game to round out the run. Worcester State added a goal with five seconds left to wrap the count up at 16-13. 

WestConn senior goalkeeper Molly Bresnahan (Groton, Conn.) shielded the twine and notched 12 saves to earn the win, while Olivia LaValle turned aside 12 shots and took the loss for the Lancers. With the win, the Wolves improved to 7-5 overall while Worcester State fell to 6-6. 

WestConn returns to the field seeking its third straight win when they head to Little East Conference nemesis Keene State College on Saturday at 2 p.m.