PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Top-seeded Mount Holyoke
College and third-seeded Keene State College will meet for the
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III
women's lacrosse championship on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. after
capturing semifinal contests Saturday afternoon at Plymouth State
University's Arold Field.
Keene State knocked off second-seeded and host Plymouth State in
the tournament's first game, 12-8, and Mount Holyoke cruised
past fourth-seeded Husson University, 20-7, in the second
contest. The Owls (13-5) are seeking their second ECAC
championship and first since 2004 while the Lyons (11-6) are making
their first appearance in the ECAC title game.
Mount Holyoke edged the Owls 17-15 during its spring break trip in
West Palm Beach, Fla. earlier this year (March 17). The Lyons are
perfect in three all-time meetings between the programs, coming out
on top 13-12 in both 2008 and 2009.
Keene
State 12, Plymouth State 8
Junior Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn.) and
freshman Nicole Curry (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton)
scored four goals apiece to lead the Owls past their Granite State
and Little East Conference rivals in the first semifinal.
Keene State avenged a 9-8 setback to the Panthers in the regular
season that cost the Owls the outright LEC championship and caused
a three-way tie for the conference title.
Albert added a pair of assists for a team-high six points for the
Owls, while sophomore Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac,
N.Y.) contributed two goals and two assists. Freshman
Lauren Brown (Agawam, Mass.) anchored the
defensive unit with four caused turnovers and three ground balls,
and sophomore Alyssa Marinaccio (Narragansett,
R.I.) was outstanding in the Owls goal, making 11 saves.
PSU senior Kalie Judd (Peabody, Mass.) led all
scorers with five goals and one assist, including her
100th career goal. She becomes the 14th
women's player in the program's history to score 100
career goals. Judd also collected game-highs of five draw
controls and seven ground balls. Sophomore Brianna
Davis (Framingham, Mass.) scored her team-leading
50th goal for PSU but that was the only goal she scored
against the tough Owls' defense.
It was a scoreless game the first 14 minutes before Curry put the
Owls on the board first. Judd answered for PSU a minute and a
half later, and it stayed 1-1 for the next six minutes.
Albert gave the Owls the lead again with just under nine minutes
remaining in the half, and Judd tied it again with 5:21 on the
clock. Keene State took a 3-2 lead into the intermission when
Curry tallied her second goal with just over two minutes to
play. PSU senior goalie Morgan Lemmon
(Gilford, N.H.) made two big saves to keep it a one-goal game.
The Owls started to pull away early in the second half with the
first three goals, two by Albert and one by Curry, to go up
6-2. Judd singlehandedly kept the Panthers in the game,
scoring her third goal at the 23:43 mark to stop the Owl momentum,
but Keene State rattled off three goals in a row in a three-minute
span to take a 9-3 advantage just past the midway point of the
second half.
PSU did not quit and outscored the Owls 5-3 over the last 14
minutes of the game, but Keene had too large a lead and the Panther
comeback attempt fell short.
Plymouth State finished with a 30-18 advantage in shots and a 20-15
margin in ground balls. The Panthers also won 15 of the 22
draws in the center circle.
Mount
Holyoke 20, Husson 7
The top-seeded Lyons got goals from 10 different plays in a
relatively easy win over Husson in the second semifinal.
Mount Holyoke had just a 4-1 lead at the midway point of the first
half before notching seven unanswered goals in the last 10 minutes
of the frame to take a commanding 11-1 advantage into the
intermission.
Senior Perry Markell (Portsmouth, R.I.) led the
way for the winners, winning 12 draws and recording six points on
three goals and three assists. Senior Peggy
Wefald (Granger, Ind.) and sophomore Hilary
Bombard (Northampton, Mass.) chipped in with three goals
apiece and Bombard picked up a team-leading six ground balls and
caused five turnovers.
Freshman Lindsey Kanno (Cranston, R.I.) also came
off the Lyons bench to score four goals and one assist while
sophomore Alex Crean (West Hartford, Conn.) also
contributed two goals and one assist off the bench. Mount Holyoke
senior starting goalie Jessica Brezicha (Olympia,
Wash.) allowed only one goal in the first half while making six
saves before giving way to classmate Jeanmarie
Petersen (Sea Girt, N.J.) in the second half.
Freshman Meghan O'Neil (Hartford, Vt.) led
the way for Husson with three goals on the day. Junior
Caitlin Butterfield (Gorham, Maine) topped the
Eagles with seven draw controls, and senior Christin
Grant (East Swansey, N.H.) picked up a team-high four
ground balls.
Mount Holyoke finished with a 44-26 margin in shots. Husson
put up a strong battle and collected 18 ground balls compared to 21
for the winners, and Mount Holyoke had a slight advantage in draw
controls by a 17-12 count.
(Courtesy PSU Sports Information)
