ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College women's lacrosse team raced out to a 7-0 lead, then fought off a second-half push from Southern Vermont to beat the Mountaineers, 10-6, in a non-league game on Tuesday afternoon.

Bard got goals from five different players in the first 7:09 of the game - Marion Adams, Nicole Ellin, Casey Witte, Alexandra Clarke and Leia Carey - and it was 7-0 at halftime. The Raptors had an 8-0 edge in draw controls and 11-3 in ground balls.

That changed in the second half, though, and the Mountaineers mounted a comeback, led by junior Mel Orrell (Gloucester, MA). She scored four straight goals for Southern Vermont and eventually Bard's lead was cut to 8-4. When Orrell assisted on a goal by Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, NY), it was 8-5 with 7:37 remaining.

A key couple of plays locked up the win for Bard. Witte caused a turnover, Bard cleared it, and Adams cashed in with an unassisted goal at the 4:44 mark to make it 9-5. The team traded goals from there and Bard improved to 4-6.

Southern Vermont (2-7) got four goals, an assist and seven ground balls from Orrell. Sydnee Julian (Mexico, NY) made 10 saves.

The Raptors got three points apiece from Witte (2g, 1a), Ellin (3g) and Clarke (1g, 2a). Adams scored twice, while Carey and Ryan O'Connell added single goals. Ellin had seven draw controls, Witte had five, and Clarke had a team-high five ground balls. Kaylynn Tran made six saves.

Bard hits the road this weekend for a pair of Liberty League games in the North Country - at Clarkson Friday, at St. Lawrence on Saturday. You can follow both games live right here.