History made with Lions victory over Brevard

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's lacrosse team won the first women's lacrosse game in Mars Hill University history, downing Brevard 13-10 at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. Olivia Hokanson and Kiersten Foust led the Lions with four goals each.

Tied at seven to open the half, Brevard's Macaiah Vacchiano broke the tie with a goal just 2:46 into the second half. The lead would be short-lived. Hokanson scored her third of the contest over a minute later, starting a four-goal run for the Lions. Rebecca Dallman got on the board with 21:25 left in the contest, followed by a man-up goal from Foust with 12:43 elapsed in the half. Victoria Eckard scored the fourth of the run with 15:56 left in the contest.

Trailing 11-8, the Tornado vaulted a comeback bid, scoring the next two goals. Victoria Hayes scored her second of the contest to cut the deficit to two. With under four minutes left in the contest, Kelly Kearnan pulled Brevard within one. 

In the final 2:22 of the contest, the Lions padded their lead with Hokanson's fourth goal and Taylor Burgess' first of the season.

"We are proud of how we played today and how we represented ourselves," head coach Kristina Llanes said after the game. "Having seven different players contribute on goals and assists is the type of game we wanted to play."

Hokanson opened the inaugural campaign with a bang, scoring the Lions' first goal just 15 seconds into the contest, beating goalkeeper Shelby Arsenault low inside the left post. She struck again less than a minute later to go up 2-0 in the first 1:12 of the game. Brevard countered with two goals of their own to tie the game with 24:58 left in the first half. Nina Siu scored both unassisted.

Mars Hill's Kiersten Foust and Molly Tobias provided the next two scores in the game, regaining the lead for the Lions. The Tornado stormed back with five straight goals, four of which came from the stick of Siu, including a behind-the-back top-shelf shot over the left shoulder of Alexandria Holleran. Brevard led 7-4 with 10:11 left in the half

The Lions battled back to tie the game at seven all heading into the half. Two goals from Foust and marker from Tobias in the final 9:45 of the half.

Holleran made nine saves on 19 shots for the win. Arsenault gave up 13 goals on 26 shots for the loss.

"I'm excited to continue to build with them and look forward to our week ahead," Llanes added.

Mars Hill returns to action versus Barton on Friday, February 23 at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. The first draw control is scheduled for 4 p.m.