WESTON, Mass. — The storybook season came to a close Saturday afternoon for Southern Vermont College as the third-seeded Mountaineers fell 16-8 to No. 1 Regis College in the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Women's Lacrosse Championship held at Regis Stadium.
RC scored the first four goals of the game, only to see Southern Vermont answer with three straight to get it down to a one-point differential. Scores were traded through the 10:00 mark before Regis closed out the half with three unanswered to bring an 8-4 upper hand to the intermission.
The second period mirrored the first as the Pride notched the opening four goals of the stanza before SVC tacked up three consecutive scores in a response. Each team put up a tally, and RC then closed out their fourth straight tournament title with three more insurance goals.
Southern Vermont finishes the year at 7-11 overall, collecting three more wins than the program did in its inaugural 2015 season.
SVC head coach Thomas L. Otero proudly proclaimed of his squad, "What can you say about a group of young women at SVC who, over the course of three months, developed into a cohesive, competitive lacrosse team – one that would make it to the NECC Championship game in only their two year of existence. A team that honored the game of lacrosse by elevating their skills to the level of beating all the teams in the conference, except one. This is the essence of coaching, and this is the desire of a women's lacrosse player at Southern Vermont College.
The three Mountaineer junior captains – Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.), Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.), and Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) – all worked their way to the NECC All-Tournament Team along with sophomore goaltender Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.).
Nesshoever capped her stellar playoff run, scoring five goals to tie the game-best while adding a caused turnover and a ground ball. Orrell netted three goals to go along with her three draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers, and sophomore Paige Vitale (Greenville, N.Y.) added another pair of ground balls for the visitors.
Carrera made 16 saves in the loss (5-6), coming two shy of her top single game mark.
The two sides were even on the draw, each pulling in 13 throughout the day. Regis owned a 26-13 ground ball advantage, causing 15 of SVC's 22 turnovers while the Mountaineers caused just six of the Pride's 16. RC tallied four goals on free-position shots as Southern Vermont got just one.
"What a great run at the end of the season," Otero continued. "All players stepped up at some time during the last three weeks of the season and contributed to the success of our program. Their effort and 'never say die' attitude will set the standard that future SVC athletes in our lacrosse program will strive to achieve. I am proud to have had the opportunity to coach these athletes with help of my assistant, Kathleen Wilkinson, who contributed so much to the program as well. We are all looking forward to next season."
Regis stormed out to an early upper hand, scoring twice in the opening four minutes of play for a lead the hosts would never relinquish. The Pride added two more through the 22:32 mark of the opening period, looking to be in position to walk away with the win.
Southern Vermont refused to go quietly, however, and surged back to make it close. Nesshoever got the first Mountaineer goal of the game off a pass from the left side, and Orrell then notched back-to-back tallies to cut the Mountaineer deficit down to one. Her first score came as she burst down the heart of the pitch and let a high-flying shot go into the back of the net.
The teams traded strikes over the next 10 minutes, Regis getting an unassisted score before Nesshoever potted her second of the day to get it back to a one-goal differential. RC would finish the frame as it started, finding the back of the cage on three straight occasions to carry an 8-4 lead into halftime.
The Pride brough their momentum into the final 30 minutes, scoring four unanswered goals for a 7-0 run that SVC would be unable to recover from. The Mountaineers gave it a great attempt, going on a tear as the visitors climbed back with three goals in just 31 seconds of clock time. Nesshoever had a pair of scores in that stretch, sandwiching Orrell's 68th goal of the year; through the NECC tournament, Orrell had 10 more scores than any other player in the league this season.
RC got the next goal to go before Nesshoever sent home her 45th tally of the year on a free-position shot to make it a 13-8 Pride advantage. Regis would keep the Mountaineers out of the net the rest of day, however, while pulling away with three final scores to secure its fourth straight NECC Championship.