BOSTON -- University of Maine at Farmington women's lacrosse (1-0) senior midfielder Mara Balboni (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) scored six goals in Sunday's season opening 10-9 non-conference win at Wheelock College (1-2).

Jaclyn Langevin (Bow, N.H./Bow) scored the season's first goal at eight and a half minutes into the opening period on a free position shot. Balboni tallied two straight goals in a one-minute span to increase the advantage to 3-0. 

After Wheelock added a goal to the scoreboard at 17:42, Balboni added her third goal of the period with the assist coming from Carly Raymond (Topsham, Maine/Mt. Aratat).

The Wildcats would not go away and answered with three straight goals to tie the game at 4-4. 

Rhi Jackson (Saco, Maine/Waynflete) broke the tie for UMF with a goal at 7:53 and then Balboni added an insurance goal about a minute and a half later. 

Wheelock tied the game again with two more goals in the final six minutes but Balboni charted her fifth goal of the contest at 3:26 as the Beavers rolled into halftime with a 7-6 lead.

In the second half, Wheelock tied the game only a minute into the final period but the dynamic duo of Balboni and Raymond teamed up again. Balboni broke the contest's third tie with a score at 21:57 with the assist coming from Raymond.

After a UMF penalty forced the Beavers to play a man down, Raymond was not phased and marched down field with a goal of her own to increase the lead to 9-7.

The Wildcats would not go away as the team came back with two more goals to tie the game with 8:15 remaining on the clock.

Langevin scored the decisive goal 12 seconds later for the Beavers. After Wheelock was handed a penalty, Jackson won the ensuing draw control and UMF pushed the offensive tempo for the man-up goal.

Balboni's six goals came on eight shots on goal. Langevin added five draw controls, a ground ball, and a caused turnover to her two-goal outing. Jackson led the team with five ground balls and nearly matched Langevin with four draw controls.

Alyssa Arsenault (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) made three saves for UMF in her first collegiate game in net.  

UMaine-Farmington travels to Salem State next Saturday in non-conference action.