Lynch's Hat Trick Paces Wooster Past Earlham 4-2

Briana Lynch

College of Wooster freshman Briana Lynch exploded for a hat trick Saturday afternoon, leading the Fighting Scots past host Earlham College 4-2 during the teams’ first North Coast Athletic Conference tilt of the season.

It marks the fifth three-goal effort by a Wooster individual over the last 20 contests dating back to last fall, with current sophomore Amanda Artman and alum Anlyn Addis recording the others.

Saturday’s game appeared that it would be scoreless at halftime, however, Lynch connected on her first of the day with just :02 remaining, courtesy of an assist from Brittany Montgomery, to give the Scots (3-4, 2-3 NCAC) a 1-0 lead.

Both offenses picked up the pace during the second half. First, Earlham (1-5, 0-5 NCAC) tied things up about eight minutes in. The match’s key sequence came during the middle of the stanza when Wooster scored back-to-back goals just 1:27 apart. Eileen Barrer had an unassisted tally and then she helped out on Lynch’s second for a 3-1 lead.

With less than six minutes to play, the Quakers made things interesting, pulling within one, but Lynch responded with a goal just 29 seconds after that one to put it away. Lynch was again assisted by Barrer.

The Scots, who have now won two in a row to get back in the race for the four-team NCAC Tournament, are at Denison University (3-5, 2-1 NCAC) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.