Worcester State 15, Becker College 9
Leicester, MA --- Senior Amanda Cosenza (Shrewsbury, MA) and junior Carley MacIntyre (Townsend, MA) each netted a hat trick to help lead Worcester State to a 15-9 victory over Becker College to open up their New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance schedule this afternoon.
With the win the Lancers improve to 3-1 overall (1-0 NEWLA) while the Hawks slip to 1-3 and 0-2 in the conference.
The Blue and Gold were also paced by senior Brittany Jamieson (Foxboro, MA) and Abby Cosenza (Shrewsbury, MA) each registered two goals apiece while fourth-year classmates Veronica Farrell (Baldwinville, MA) and Kim Vail (W. Newbury, MA) combined for nine ground balls.
Sophomore Nicole Lijiana (Moorestown, NJ) led Becker with three goals as classmate Morgan Hanzen (Woodstock, NJ) tacked on two more. Junior Karroll Barretto (Quincy, MA) added a pair of goals with a team-best five ground balls and teammate Carrie Ann Hart (Belfast, ME) scooped up four on the pitch for the Hawks.
Both teams lit up the scoreboard early on as nine of the 16 goals scored in the opening frame happened within the first 15 minutes.
Jamieson opened the contest with a goal 33 seconds into the game, but Becker emerged with the 3-1 advantage at 26:22 with a trio of markers 2½ minutes apart.
The Lancers would respond with three consecutive goals to go up by one at 19:29. The Hawks knotted the score at 4-4 less than a minute later on a free position goal by senior Jennifer Ouellette (Merrimack, NH), but WSC would explode for five straight goals to take a 9-4 edge over the next 10 minutes. Sophomore Danielle Clifford (Attleboro, MA) capped off the rally with her first career goal.
Becker though would score two quick goals towards the end of the first stanza to trail 9-6 at the break.
Over the second half’s first ten minutes, the Hawks dominated possession as they held a 9-1 edge in shots and the Lancers would turn the ball over several times in their own zone. Becker would use the momentum to draw within a goal (9-8) on a tally by Lijiana at 20:14.
Worcester State then woke up and scored two goals 68 seconds apart for some breathing room, but a Becker goal by freshman Vanessa Laureano (Dracut, MA) made it a two marker game (11-9) with 11:55 left to play.
It was at that point that the Lancers went on a 4-0 run to close out the contest as sophomore keeper Haley Erickson (Saugus, MA) came through in the clutch when she stopped all three of Becker’s last attempts on net.
WSC held a 27-20 lead in ground balls while they nursed a 31-30 edge in shots. The Lancers outshot Becker 20-14 in the opening frame, but it was the Hawks who had the upper hand with a 16-11 advantage in the final period.
Turnovers were almost even as Worcester State had more by two (21-19).
Erickson finished with nine saves while her counterpart, sophomore Lindsey Peluso (Dudley, MA), stopped 10 for the Hawks.
Worcester State looks for their first ever win against Bridgewater State on Thursday on the road at 4 PM as they are 0-11 against the Bears all-time.
Becker will play three in four days immediately after the holiday on Sunday. The Hawks visit St. Joseph’s (CT) for a 4:30 matchup on Monday before they entertain Mount Ida on Tuesday and Westfield State on Thursday as both games will start at 6 o’clock.