Box Score by Benny Benton
DUE WEST, S.C. – The Barton College women's lacrosse team recorded its third straight victory and its first Conference Carolinas victory of the year on Saturday with a 9-8 road win at Erskine College.
After leading for most of the match, the Lady Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1) fell behind 8-7 on Raven Smith's goal off an Amanda Epstein assist with 10:36 to play.
However, Barton freshman Angelina Scarpa tied the contest at 8-all with 6:39 remaining on her second goal of the day, scored off an assist from Kayli Ashenfelter, and freshman Jenna Brunclik netted the game-winner just 29 seconds later off an assist from Lauren Fletcher.
Brunclik, a resident of Chesapeake Beach, Md., led Barton with four goals, and now has a team-high 18 on the season. Scarpa and Ashenfelter each added two goals and an assist, and Natalie Brooks chipped in a goal.
Ashenfelter also claimed five draw controls. Sophomore Rebecca Fraser gained six draw controls and also collected five groundballs.
BC freshman goalie Katherine Mattena posted 11 saves, including all three attempts by Erskine (1-4, 1-2) over the final seven and a half minutes as it attempted to tie the match. One of those attempts was a free position shot by the Flying Fleet's leading scorer, Faith Flanagan, with 2:17 left.
Flanagan, who has 13 goals on the season, was one of four Erskine players with two goals each.
Barton scored first in the sixth minute, and each time Erskine would match the Lady Bulldogs, BC would move ahead again.
The Lady Bulldogs finally opened up a two-goal advantage on back-to-back scores by Brooks and Brunclik, the latter one with 5:25 left in the first period. However, the Flying Fleet answered with consecutive goals in a span of just 18 seconds to tie the match once more at 4-all.
Scores by Scarpa and Brunclik again gave BC a two-goal advantage at 6-4, but Erskine posted the final goal of the first half to send the match to intermission at 6-5, then produced the first goal of the second half to tie the match again at 6-all.
The two sides traded goals one more time to reach 7-all before Smith gave Erskine its only lead of the day on her goal with 10:36 left.
Mattena stopped a shot by Flanagan with 7:14 remaining to keep the Barton deficit to just one, and 35 seconds later, Scarpa tied the contest for the fifth and final time with her seventh goal of the season.
Ashenfelter won the next draw control to give Barton possession, and Brunclik cashed in the opportunity by scoring off the pass from Scarpa for the game-winner.
The Lady Bulldogs won despite committing eight more turnovers (35 to 27) and taking seven less shots (20 to 27). BC did win five more draw controls than the Fleet (12 to 7).
Barton will return to action on Monday, March 5, when it visits Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Fla., as part of a two-match road trip over spring break.
