By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – The girls lacrosse program from Edwin O. Smith was able to fend off the squad from Bristol Eastern on Friday, zipping up a 7-6 victory over the Lancers from Alumni Field on the campus of BEHS. 

It was the second consecutive one-goal loss for the Kingstreeters (7-4 overall) who have dropped three matches this season by just one score. 

Eastern has won 7-of-9 matches this season after a 0-2 start. 

Smith is on a bit of a roll, posting wins against Windsor and Enfield coming into Bristol and was able to fend off Eastern until the end. 

The Lancers nearly got out of the hole late, trailing 6-4 with 5:30 remaining in regulation. 

Emma Stavens and Shannon Philippon hit goals back-to-back to tie the match with 2:13 remaining. 

It was Philippon’s first varsity goal, assisted by Sarah Hartley, and came at the best possible moment for the locals. 

Both teams had possession of the ball over the decisive moments of the affair but late in the fray, Eastern was one player down with a minute to play. 

With 13 seconds remaining, the Lancers committed a foul inside the 12 meter arch – setting up the go-ahead score for the Panthers. 

Smith found a player charging to the goal, splashing the ball in the net as Eastern fell by one, 7-6. 

Stavens led the charge with three goals and an assist while Vanessa Drury notched two goals and tallied an assist. 

Several critical ground balls were picked up by Eastern’s Meg Krok which was a tremendous help late.  

The Lancers have two chances to get back to the pay window this week. 

Eastern is back in action on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. in a showdown against Enfield from Alumni Field. 

And then two days later, also from the Mum City, Windsor comes to town for a battle under the lights at 7 p.m.