Women's Lacrosse Reaches NEWMAC Championship Game With 24-12 Victory Over Wellesley
BABSON PARK, Mass.—Top-seeded Babson College erupted for 15 first half goals en route to a dominating 24-12 victory over fourth-seeded Wellesley College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Semifinal contest at MacDowell Field.
Junior Taylor Kralovenec (Cos Cob, Conn.) scored a career-high eight goals and leading scorer, junior Jameson Spang (Kennebunk, Maine), scored seven times and added two assists. Senior Bridget McCurdy (Weston, Mass.) added a season-high three goals, all in the first half, and senior Trisha Babson (Duxbury, Mass.) scored once and chipped in with a game-high five assists for the Beavers.
Wellesley College sophomore Brit Mscisz (Topsfield, Mass.) was superb in a losing effort, leading the Blue with six goals. Senior Meredith Roy (Merrimack, N.H.) scored three times in her final collegiate game. First-year Rachel Hanscom (Malvern, Pa.) added a goal and two assists.
With its 12th consecutive victory, Babson (13-2) advances to its sixth straight NEWMAC Championship game on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. and will await the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between second-seeded Springfield College and third-seeded Wheaton College. Wellesley College finishes its season at 6-10.
Babson jumped to an early lead, scoring three times in the game's first 4:18. Spang opened the scoring 24 seconds into the game before Rachel Secrist (Westford, Mass.) scored the first of her two goals three minutes for a 2-0 advantage. Kralovenec tallied the first of her three first half goals 54 seconds later for a quick 3-0 lead and forcing a Wellesley timeout.
Roy got Wellesley on the board at 24:10 but Kralovenec responded 11 seconds later, scoring off the draw control, and Spang added her second goal a minute later to give the Beavers a 5-1 lead. The Blue scored two of the next three goals, drawing within 6-3 on the first goal of the day from Msciz with 20:38 remaining in the first half.
The Babson offense took charge from there, scoring seven of the game's next eight goals to turn its three-goal lead into a 13-4 advantage with 7:34 to go in the half. Two McCurdy tallies, along with goals from Kralovenec and Spang made it 10-3 at the 11:45 mark. A Mscisz goal, assisted by Hanscom, stopped the run, but only briefly, as the Beavers ripped off three more goals, as McCurdy completed her hat trick, Spang scored her fourth of the half, and senior Erin Daley (Darien, Conn.) got into the scoring column with a transition goal to blow the game open.
Wellesley got goals from Hanscom, Mscisz, and Roy in the first 9:06 of the second half, trimming the Babson lead to 16-9, but couldn't keep pace with the Beavers who scored eight times over the final 20 minutes.
Kralovenec poured in five second half goals, while Spang scored twice, boosting her season total to 61, and Secrist and sophomore Misha Beatty (Westwood, Mass.) each scored once for the Beavers, who topped the 20-goal mark for the second time this season.
Sophomore Julie Baharestani (Syosset, N.Y.) made six saves in the win for Babson while sophomore Tya Logan (Hillsboro, N.H) made 10 stops for Wellesley.
Baherstani and McCurdy each had a game-high three groundballs for the Beavers, while Trisha Babson had a game-high 10 draw controls and junior Emma Locke (Boxford, Mass.) won seven draws. Beatty forced two turnovers for Babson.
Senior Kayla Bolton (Beverly Hills, Mich.) and first-year Claire Canty (East Rockaway, N.Y.) each collected two groundballs for Wellesley. Roy won a team-high seven draws.
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Dorsey's Late Goals Sends Springfield Into NEWMAC Championship Game
BABSON PARK, Mass.—First-year Michelle Dorsey (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored a free position goal with 11 seconds remaining in the second half to break a 6-6 deadlock, lifting second-seeded Springfield College to a 7-6 victory over third-seeded Wheaton College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinal this afternoon at MacDowell Field on the campus of Babson College.
With the victory, Springfield College (10-7) will make its fourth straight trip to the NEWMAC Championship game, and face Babson College tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. With the loss, Wheaton College sees its season end at 12-6.
Sophomore Kelly Gallo (Westfield, Mass.) scored three times to lead the Springfield attack, while Dorsey, senior Jackie Moscardelli (Weymouth, Mass.), junior Meghan Flanagan (Averill Park, N.Y.), and junior Jennifer Califano (Suffern, N.Y.) each added a goal apiece for the Pride. Moscardelli and junior Allie Davis (Fairfield, Mass.) both chipped in with an assist.
Sophomore Charlotte DeSantis (Darien, Conn.) scored three times and had an assist to lead Wheaton. Sophomore Leila Mills (Brunswick, Maine), junior Amy Moreira (Bristol, R.I.), and senior Hailey Colburn (Concord, N.H.) each scored once. Colburn finishes the season with 76 goals, and for her career tallied 189 goals and totaled 260 points.
Wheaton drew first blood, scoring on its opening possession of the game to take a 1-0 lead at 26:39. First-year goalie Katy Ananian (Belmont, Mass.) got the play started sprinting the through the midfield and into the offensive zone on a clear attempt before helping to set a free position attempt. Moreira drove hard to the net on her free position opportunity and had her initial shot blocked, but collected the ground ball and beat Springfield goalie Anne Versprille (Franklin, Mass.) with the rebound for the game's first goal.
Just over two minutes later Flanagan got Springfield on the board, forcing a Wheaton turnover on the clear at midfield and scored on a breakaway to even the game at 24:32. The Lyons responded as Sydney Ferguson (Jamestown, R.I.) controlled the draw and Mills found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead at 24:09. Gallo scored her first goal of the day for the Pride on a free position shot at 22:40 to again draw Springfield even at 2-2.
Wheaton scored the game's next two goals, twice converting Springfield turnovers into scores to grab its biggest lead of the day, 4-2, at the 17:04 mark of the first half. Colburn converted a pass from DeSantis for her only goal of the day at 20:13, and DeSantis followed with her first of the day just over three minutes later for the two-goal bulge. Califano's second goal of the season halved the Wheaton lead with 8:31 remaining before halftime, and with both defenses playing well and both keepers making big saves, the Lyons carried a 4-3 lead into intermission.
The defenses continued to dominate the early minutes of the second half before Gallo finished a free-position attempt for Springfield at 22:58 to tie the game at 4-4. The Pride would take their first lead of the day just minutes later as Moscardelli scored her team-leading 43rd goal of the season to make it 5-4. The Lyons came right back though, as DeSantis notched her second goal of the day on a free position shot to even the game at 5-5 with 18:10 remaining.
Gallo's third goal of the day, this time off pass from Moscardelli as she cut to the net, put the Pride back in front at 6-5 with 14:51 remaining. Ananian made two key saves to keep the Springfield lead at one, and following a save on Gallo she started the clear with a long outlet pass to DeSantis who charged down the right sideline and found the space to beat Versprille low at the far post, tying the game at 6-6 with 4:59 to go.
The final five minutes saw both goalies make game-saving stops, setting up Dorsey's late heroics. Following a Wheaton timeout with 22 seconds remaining, the Pride forced a turnover deep in the Lyons' defensive zone to regain possession. Flanagan hit Dorsey streaking across the middle of the field, who was fouled as she attacked the cage, setting up the final scoring opportunity.
Verspille made nine stops in the win for Springfield while Ananian stopped 13 shots and had a game-high five groundballs for Wheaton.
First-year Ellie Getchell (Franklin, Mass.) led Springfield with four groundballs and four caused turnovers, while Dorsey collected a team-high three draw controls.
Colburn had a game-high seven draw controls for Wheaton and sophomore Devon Soucier (Avon, Conn.) forced two turnovers.
Springfield will now meet Babson in tomorrow afternoon's NEWMAC Championship game for the fourth consecutive season. The Beavers beat the Pride 15-12 in the teams' regular season meeting on March 31 in Babson Park.
