CHICOPEE, Mass. — The Elms College women's lacrosse squad halted its two-game skid with a 19-8 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) win over visiting Southern Vermont College Saturday afternoon at Leary Field.
The Blazers improve to 6-6 overall and 4-1 in NECC play while Southern Vermont drops to 3-6, 2-3 in league action.
Southern Vermont next travels to Mass. College of Liberal Arts on Monday afternoon for a 4 p.m. first draw while the Blazers will look to continue their winning ways with a home tilt against Regis College Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
SVC sophomore Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) was efficient all-around for the Mountaineers as she tallied three goals, six ground balls, three draw controls, and three caused turnovers. Sophomore Lauren Nesshoever (Rutland, Vt.) had a goal and three caused turnovers on the defensive end while classmate Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) registered two goals, an assist, and game-highs of nine ground balls and 11 draw controls. Sophomore Brianna Wiederhold (Greenwich, N.Y.) also notched her first collegiate score in the effort.
Tied 1-1 after the opening minutes of play, the Blazers pulled ahead with a four-goal spurt, featuring a pair of goals from senior Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.) to capture a 5-1 lead. The Mountaineers trimmed into their deficit with back-to-back goals from Orrell to make it a 5-3 game. Elms raced ahead again behind a pair of goals from junior Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) and a strike from senior Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) to stake the Blazers to an 8-3 advantage. Leading 9-4, EC closed out the first half with six-goal run to take a 14-4 lead into halftime.
The offense slowed down for both sides in the second half with Southern Vermont cutting the Blazers' lead to 15-6 on goals from Nesshoever and Lesure. Up 17-7 in the second half, the Blazers used scores from freshman Madison Crawford (Bennington, Vt.) and a pair from McDonough to secure the 19-8 win over the Mountaineers.
The Blazers outshot Southern Vermont 31-26 during the game while Southern Vermont had a 15-13 edge in draw controls. Elms sophomore goalkeeper Meegan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) stopped 10 shots in the win while Mountaineer freshman goalie Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) made seven saves in the loss (3-6).