Late Goals Spoil Middlebury’s Second-Half Rally

Casey O'Neill grabbed five draw controls for the Panthers on Saturday.

Recap, photo courtesy of Middlebury

Fourth-ranked Middlebury erased a five-goal deficit in the second half, but visiting Colby tallied twice in the final 2:16 to pull out a 14-12 NESCAC victory on Saturday. The Panthers (9-2, 5-1) continue conference play next Saturday, hosting #8 Trinity at 2:00 p.m., while the #21 Mules (6-4, 2-4) host Bowdoin on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Colby started fast, scoring the first four goals of the contest. Emma Banks picked up the initial goal 4:39 into the contest, followed by a tally from Kendall Smith less than a minute later. The Mules extended the advantage to 4-0, before Middlebury got on the scoreboard. The Panthers made 4-1 when MG Gately hit a cutting Erin Nicholas for a score with 11:18 on the clock. Henley Hall and Kate Zecca added free-position goals, bringing the hosts to within a goal (4-3) with 6:17 left in the half.

The teams traded scores the rest of the half with Colby clinging to a 6-5 lead after Hollis Peritcone brought Middlebury to within a goal with 1:35 remaining, tucking a shot into the top-right corner seven seconds after winning a draw control.

Panthers got off to a fast start in the new half, with Perticone setting up Emily Barnard 50 seconds into the new stanza. Colby responded with five-straight goals for an 11-6 lead, as Kendall Smith capped the run with 19:49 on the clock.

Emma McDonagh and Nicholas recorded back-to-back goals for the Panthers, trimming the deficit to 11-8. After Maddie Hatch scored for the Mules, Perticone drove to the net for her second tally of the game with 9:53 remaining and 35 seconds, and later cashed in on a feed from behind the net from Georgia Carroll, making it a 12-10 contest. The rally continued with 5:46 left, as Nicholas converted a free-position attempt and two minutes later, Kirsten Murphy scored from the eight-meter arc, knotting the game at 12-12.

Colby's Grace Cowell scored the deciding goal on a free-position shot with 2:16 showing on the clock, while Grace Langmuir added an insurance maker with 1:20 left, spoiling Middlebury's comeback bid.

Perticone had a huge game for the Panthers with three goals and assist, a game-high 12 draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Nicholas added a hat trick and Emily Barnard tallied twice. Julia Keith started in goal and made six saves in 39:02, while Kate Furber had two stops in 20:58.

Smith paced the Mules with five tallies, while Sasha Fritts scored twice and assisted on another. Cowell led the team with four ground balls and DeWan McGara collected five draw controls. In goal for Colby, Izzy Scribano registered 11 saves.

Keene State Women's Lacrosse Cruises Past NEC For Fourth Straight Victory

Recap, photo courtesy of Keene State

HENNIKER, N.H. - The Keene State women's lacrosse program cruised past New England College, 22-5, to claim its fourth consecutive victory on Tuesday evening at Don Melander Field in the Owls' final non-conference game of the season.

Records

Keene State: 5-6
New England College: 7-3
How it Happened

Senior Tori Weinstock converted a free position opportunity early to give the Owls a one-point advantage, before the Pilgrims evened the score at one less than a minute later with 27:41 remaining on the clock. Keene State scored just 39 seconds later, as sophomore Gabby Smith found junior Chelsea Lewis, who netted her first tally of the game. Lewis' strike was the first of eight unanswered goals, as the Owls took a 9-1 lead with 18:27 to go. NEC halted the run with two quick goals to cut their deficit to six, but Keene State finished the stanza by outscoring the home team 7-1 to push the score to 16-4 at the break.

Coming out of halftime, freshman Ali Daisy finished off a pass from Smith and senior Taylor Farland tallied her fourth goal of the game to give the Owls a 18-4 lead, before sophomore Erica Chareth found the back of the net off a feed from Farland and sophomore Jill Tolman scored her second goal of the season to push the score to 20-4 with 17:51 remaining. From there, the Pilgrims netted one final goal, before Smith and freshman Shannon Weisensee each converted their free position opportunities to the seal the win for the Owls.

Inside the Crease

Smith led the way with a season-high seven points with a career-high four goals and three assists for the Owls, while Lewis chipped in four goals and two assists. Farland registered efforts on all sides of the field with four goals, one assist, nine draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
For the Pilgrims, Alana Scott tallied two goals, three draw controls and one ground ball, followed by Tara Bainbridge with one goal, three assists and eight draw controls.
Between the pipes, junior Anna O'Brien earned her fifth win by making six saves, while her counterpart McKenzie Gallasso stopped 14 in the loss.
Keene State converted on 10-of-12 free position opportunities, including going 7-of-7 in the first half. The Owls held a dominant 41-17 shot advantage overall over the Pilgrims and picked up 18 ground balls to NEC's 14.
Up Next

Keene State will travel to Western Connecticut State for a Little East Conference (LEC) contest on Saturday, April 7th, beginning at 12:00 p.m.

Norwich Women's Lacrosse: Cadets fly by Blue Jays, 18-3

Recap, photo courtesy of Norwich University

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University women's lacrosse team ran away with an 18-3 victory over the visiting Blue Jays of the University of Saint Joseph, on a rainy Tuesday night at Sabine Field in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.

Norwich controlled the action end to end, scoring 12 goals in the first half alone to open up a 12-1 lead over the Blue Jays right away. The second half was much of the same, as the Cadets found the back of the net six more times to run away with the 18-3 victory.

Kathryn Albretsen (Cotuit, Mass.) led the way with a monster six-goal game on the evening to add to her team-leading 27 goals this season. Meaghan McGrath (Barre, Vt.) found the back of the net four times herself, and Kathryn Preul (Scottsdale, Ariz.) added three goals of her own. The Cadets outpaced the Blue Jays in most statistical categories, including ground balls (18-9), draw controls (19-3), and shots (37-8).

With the win, Norwich improves to 4-3 on the year and a 3-1 mark within the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The Cadets are next in action Saturday, April 7, when they travel to Saint Joseph's (Maine) for a 1:00 PM start.

Albany Tops UVM Behind First Half Surge

FINAL SCORE: Albany 18, Vermont 7 BURLINGTON, Vt. – Despite a tight game for most of the first half, Albany pulled away late in the first period and handed Vermont an 18-7 setback on Wednesday afternoon. The defeats drops the Catamounts to 4-8 on the season and 0-3 to begin conference play. The Great Danes improve to 4-7 overall and stay unbeaten in the league standings at 3-0.

Box Score  
Elise Koehl recorded her third hat trick in the last four games and fifth overall this season. The junior picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover. Elena McWright added two goals on four shot attempts. Sabrina Tattersfield, MacKenzie Bolt, and Bailey Saneman rounded out the scoring attack for the Cats with one goal apiece. Maddy Kuras set a new conference season-high with 13 saves.
 
The Great Danes were fueled by Kenda Harbinger's nine points. Harbinger tallied seven goals dished out two assists, and won eight draw controls. Emma Powlin trailed with a double hat trick and one assist for seven points on the afternoon. Kyla Zapolski notched a hat trick and won a pair of draw controls. Erin Leghart earned the victory in goal and registered six saves.
 
The first half was closely contested for the most of the period. McWright helped the Cats jump out to an early 1-0 less than two minutes into the game after driving through the right side of Albany's defense. After Zapolski tied the game four minutes later, UVM answered on its next possession after Koehl and Alex Bernier teamed up. Bernier tossed a pass to Koehl in front of the goal where the junior buried her first goal of the day.
 
Albany responded with three unanswered goals from Zapolski and Powli and overtook Vermont 4-2, but Tattersfield trimmed the deficit to 4-3 with an unassisted goal at the 11:25 mark. The Great Danes rattled off six goals in a five-minute span and padded their lead to 10-3 with three minutes to play in the period. Koehl added her second goal in the final minute and Powlin scored with 29 ticks left on the clock as Albany held an 11-4 avantage at the break.
 
The conference rivals traded scores to begin the second half but the Great Danes stretched their lead with four straight goals near the midway point of the frame. UVM logged two out of the final three goals of the afternoon, one by McWright at the 15:18 mark, and Koehl completed the hat trick with five and half minutes left in the contest.
 
Vermont will visit twin state rival New Hampshire on Saturday (April 7) in the first leg of a three-game road trip. The opening draw is set for 7 p.m. Free video will be available at AmericaEast.TV.

Castleton Women’s Lacrosse Loses to Plymouth State

Recap, photo courtesy of Castleton

CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team lost to Plymouth State Wednesday afternoon, 14-4, in a non-conference match at Spartan Stadium.

Castleton struck first just 1:11 into the match, as Emily Cross set up Hannah Braman for her 17^th goal of the season. However, Plymouth State would quickly take control, as Megan Tingley scored consecutive goals to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 19:10 left in the first half.

Tingley continued to apply offensive pressure, assisting on a goal by Sam Fiore to extend the Panthers' advantage to 3-1 midway through the opening half. Castleton converted on an extra-player opportunity, as Braman scored her second goal of the game off an assist by Morgan Derosia to close the Spartan deficit to 3-2 with 10:58 remaining in the half.

Plymouth State (5-3) took control with four unanswered goals in the last seven minutes of the first half, including two more goals by Tingley as well as a tally by Sam Sullivan with eight seconds left on the clock. The Panthers continued to extend their lead with three straight goals in the first five minutes of the second half, including the second goal of the game for both Fiore and Sullivan.

Emma Best snapped the Panther scoring streak with a free position goal, followed by an unassisted goal by Erin Shuttle less than two minutes later to bring the Spartans within six at 10-4. Plymouth State would score the final four goals of the match, starting with Sullivan completing her hat trick.

Tingley led the Panthers with four goals and two assists, while Sullivan finished with three goals and one assist and Sophia Guerriero contributed two goals to the winning effort. Sullivan also collected seven ground balls and caused four turnovers, while Kimberly Zuccaro led the team with four draw controls.

Braman was the only Spartan to notch a multiple-point game with her two goals, Erin McKenna collected five ground balls, and Nadine Downing contributed four ground balls, three caused turnovers, and two draw controls. The Spartans struggled to create offense, converting on only 11-of-26 clearing attempts, while the Panthers were successful on 17-of-23 clearing chances.

Samantha Hebb made seven saves in net for the Spartans, while Clarissa Foote made five saves in the first 51 minutes of the game for the Panthers. Emilee Wargo came on in relief and was credited with one save.

Castleton (4-6) heads to Bangor, Maine, to face Husson University Saturday, April 7, at 1:30 p.m. The Spartans close out the regular season home schedule the following weekend against Thomas Saturday, April 14, at 3:30 p.m. (Senior Day) and against Lyndon Sunday, April 15, at 2 p.m. (One Love Awareness Game).

New England College Women's Lacrosse Falls to Keene State, 22-5

Recap, photo courtesy of New England College

HENNIKER, N.H.—The New England College women's lacrosse team suffered a 22-5 loss to the Owls of Keene State College on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action.

The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Pilgrims, who fall to 7-3 overall. Keene improves to 5-6 with the win.

NEC LEADERS
The Pilgrims were led by Alana Scott (Huntington, Vt.) with two goals. Tara Bainbridge (South Hadley, Mass.) dished out three assists and scored a goal.

Bainbridge also won a team-best eight draw controls.

KSC LEADERS
The Owls were led by Gabby Smith with four goals and three assists. Chelsea Lewis and Taylor Farland also had four goals apiece, while Ali Daisy tallied three goals and two assists.

Keene State scored 10 of their goals on free positions.

Farland had a game-high nine draw control wins and also scooped up two ground balls.

GOALKEEPERS
The Pilgrims received 14 saves from freshman netminder McKenzie Gallasso (South Windsor, Conn.). Keene's Anna O'Brien tallied six saves. Keene outshot NEC 41-17 on the day.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims will resume North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play on Saturday on the road at Thomas College.

#2 Panthers Ground Red Hawks, 15-7

Recap, photo courtesy of Middlebury

Second-ranked Middlebury scored seven of the eight goals recorded in the first half, as the Panthers went on to collect a 15-7 road win at Montclair State (4-4) on Thursday. Free-position goals played a key role in the game with Middlebury scoring on eight attempts and the Red Hawks converting five times. The Panthers (7-1) return to NESCAC play on Saturday, traveling to seventh-ranked Amherst for a 2:00 p.m. start.

Middlebury scored on its first three possessions of the contest, as Casey O'Neill scored from the top of the crease with 1:05 expired. Georgia Carroll and Hollis Perticone both scored on free-position attempts 12 seconds apart for a 3-0 advantage less than four minutes into the game.

The hosts got on the scoreboard with 24:28 showing when Jessica Andreula converted on a free-position attempt. The Panthers netted the final four goals of the opening stanza, with three of them coming on free-position shots. Kirsten Murphy made it 4-1, before Grace Getman drove to the net on the left side and fired a shot into the upper-right corner for a four-goal cushion.

Sara DiCenso (9:50) and Kate Zecca (7:26) closed out the scoring on plays originating from the eight-meter arc, as the Panthers went into the break holding a 7-1 edge.

The Red Hawks tallied first in the second half, as Michaelah Reynolds tucked a shot into the top-left corner on a free-position attempt. Montclair State sandwiched two goals around a score by Middlebury's Emily Barnard, cutting the difference to 9-4 with 22:06 remaining.

The visitors went on a nice run, scoring six of the next seven goals, extending the lead to 15-5 with just under five minutes on the clock. Three of those scores came on free-position attempts, as MG Gately picked up Middlebury's final tally with 4:47 left in the stanza. The Red Hawks added two late goals by Rhiannon Brown, making it a 15-7 final.

The Panthers spread out the offense with 10 different players recording a goal. Hollis Perticone led the way with three, while Zecca, Murphy and Getman each tallied twice. Perticone led the team with four draw controls and three ground balls, while Addy Mitchell caused a game-high three turnovers. In goal, Julia Keith made four saves to earn the victory.

Brown netted three goals for MSU, while Leanne McCloskey boasted eight draw controls and Allyn Lilien scooped up five ground balls. Amanda Maguire played the opening 11:50 of the game and made one save, while Lilien made 11 stops the rest of the way.

Middlebury held a 38-14 advantage in shots and a 27-18 edge in ground balls. The Panthers finished 8-18 on free-position shots and the Red Hawks went 5-8.

Castleton Women’s Lacrosse Cruises to Conference Win

Recap, photo courtesy of Castleton

CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton University received contributions from several players as the Spartans defeated Maine Maritime Academy, 20-1, Saturday afternoon in a North Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse match at Spartan Stadium.

Emily Cross led the Spartans with four goals and four assists for eight total points, while Hannah Braman finished with two goals and five assists for seven points. Castleton received help from many people, as 12 players earned at least one point in the game, including the first career hat trick for Morgan Derosia, the first goals of the season for Erin McKenna, Nicolle Trivino, and Kirsten Kruk, and the first career collegiate goal for freshman Allison Lowell.

Erin Shuttle, who finished with two goals and two assists herself, started the scoring 44 seconds into the contest, and then she assisted on Braman's first goal of the game 47 seconds later. Braman returned the favor by assisting on Shuttle's second goal, and then McKenna assisted on Nadine Downing's tally before scoring herself just over four-and-a-half minutes into the contest.

The Spartans eventually scored nine goals within the first nine minutes of the game, and then their 10^th goal came midway through the first half, allowing the clock to continuing running. Castleton took a 15-0 lead into halftime and then scored three more goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Maine Maritime (2-3, 1-2 NAC), shorthanded due to a rash of injuries, would break the shutout midway through the second half, as Madison Barry raced down the field and found the back of the net with her only shot of the game. Christina Wilson did all she could in net for the Mariners, finishing with 11 saves as 31 of Castleton's 37 shots were on goal.

The Spartans collected 19 of the 23 draw controls, led by Downing with eight draw controls. Katie Feeney led the defense with seven caused turnovers as Maine Maritime took only three shots, with neither starting goalie Samantha Hebb nor Bria Willis, the Spartan goalie in the second half, credited with a save.

Castleton (4-5, 2-0 NAC) plays its final regular season non-conference game of the year Wednesday, April 4, against Plymouth State beginning at 4 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.

Norwich University Women's Lacrosse: Cadets hold off Raiders, 14-13

Recap, photo courtesy of Norwich University

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - A ferocious second-half comeback attempt by the visiting Raiders of Rivier University fell just short, as the Norwich women's lacrosse team held off their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent and picked up the 14-13 victory on Friday night. 

Rivier came out of the gates hot, putting up three unanswered goals against the Cadets in the first five minutes of gameplay before Kathryn Albretsen (Cotuit, Mass.) found the back of the net off of a free position shot to stop the Raiders momentum. Norwich put up four more unanswered goals on their way to a 6-6 game at the break. 

The start of the second half was all Norwich, as the Cadets put up seven straight goals to take a seemingly insurmountable 13-7 lead over the Raiders with under 14 minutes of gameplay remaining. Rivier didn't give up that easily, as they rattled off a 7-1 run to close the gap to a single goal with under two minutes of play remaining. Norwich managed to gain possession of the final draw of the night and played keep-away from the Raiders until the buzzer sounded and the Cadets walked away with the hard fought 14-13 victory.

Meaghan McGrath (Barre, Vt.) had a huge game for the Cadets, picking up four goals on the night. Albretsen and Olivia Bloom (Annapolis, Md.) each notched hat tricks for the Cadets, while Lawson Hayes (Moorestown, N.J.) made critical saves down the stretch and 10 overall to lead the Cadets to victory between the pipes. 

With the win, the Cadets improve their overall record to 3-3 on the year and a 2-1 mark within the GNAC. Next up for Norwich is an April 3rd showdown with the Bluejays of St. Joseph (Conn.) at Sabine Field, set to get going at 7:00 PM.

Southern New Hampshire University Women’s Lacrosse Tipped by #4 Le Moyne, 15-4

BOX SCORE

Recap, photo courtesy of SNHU

When and Where: March 30, 2018 – Manchester, N.H. (Penmen Stadium)
Score: Le Moyne College 15, Southern New Hampshire University 4
Records: Le Moyne 9-0 (5-0 NE10), SNHU 2-8 (1-5 NE10)

Junior Kristin Wilder (Framingham, Mass.) scored a pair of goals, as the Southern New Hampshire University women's lacrosse team was defeated by fourth-ranked Le Moyne College on Friday afternoon at Penmen Stadium.

Le Moyne moved out to a 5-0 lead over the opening 7:29 before doubling the advantage to 10-0 with 15:27 remaining. The Dolphins would add three more to bring a 13-0 lead into the break.

Senior Alexa Bedell (Londonderry, N.H.) would opened the second-half scoring just 1:44 in to put the Penmen on the board, before a pair of Bryanna Fazio goals sandwiched Wilder's first of the day to make it 15-2 with 12:35 on the clock. Wilder and senior Kennedy Daziel (E. Hampstead, N.H.) added free-position tallies to cap the scoring.

Notes:
- The Penmen lose for the sixth time in seven games.
- Junior goalkeeper Leah Olansky (Bennington, Vt.) made nine saves in the first half, while sophomore Alex Comeau (Haverhill, Mass.) stopped three of five shots for the second straight relief outing. Hanna George turned aside four of the six shots she faced in the first 49:38, while Emily Baldwin did not register a stop over the final 10:22.
- Le Moyne outshot Southern New Hampshire, 36-12, including 27-3 in the opening stanza, and also held a 19-2 advantage in draw controls.
- The Penmen were 3-for-6 on their free-position opportunities, while the Dolphins went 3-for-10.

Up Next:        
The Penmen are back in action Saturday, April 7 (1 p.m.) when they take on Assumption College. The next home game for SNHU is Friday, April 13 (4 p.m.) when it plays host to Southern Connecticut State University at Penmen Stadium.