Worcester, MA --- First-year teammates Shawna Strazzere (Billerica, MA) and Vicki O'Brien (Canton, MA) along with senior Colleen Manning (Plainville, MA) all netted hat-tricks as they helped lead Worcester State to a 16-12 triumph over Becker this afternoon in NEWLA action.
With the win the Lancers (1-6) ended a nine game losing streak that dated back to last season while the Hawks even out to 5-5 overall. Both squads are now 1-2 in league play.
Senior Carley MacIntyre (Townsend, MA) recorded two goals and an assist for three points on the day while classmate Karla Rotondi (Tewksbury, MA) finished with totals of four draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. O'Brien picked up a team-best four ground balls for WSU.
Junior Morgan Hazen (Woodstock, VT) paced Becker with four goals, four ground balls and two forced miscues while sophomore Vanessa Laureano (Dracut, MA) and freshman Ashley Mossey (Ballston Lake, NY) each added three goals apiece. Mossey and senior Nakita Gosselin (Springfield, VT) both notched three ground balls apiece as Mossey had a game-best five draws.
Third-year Haley Erickson (Saugus, MA) stopped 12 of the 24 shots she saw on net in the win while senior Alena Phongsa (Putnam, CT) collected 14 saves in the setback for Becker.
For the first ten minutes of the contest, it was a battle for position as neither team did anything on their opening three possessions. Worcester State finally broke the ice with a Manning goal at 20:39 as two more goals would follow by MacIntyre and Strazzere for the 3-0 lead at 17:03.
Becker would add consecutive tallies 30 seconds apart by Laureano and freshman Shannon Smith (Barre, VT) to trail 3-2, but the Lancers would close out the period with a 5-1 run for the 8-3 edge at the intermission.
After Rotondi scored on a free possession shot for the six goal cushion, the Hawks stormed back with a furious 5-0 rally over a nine minute stretch to get within a marker of the lead (9-8). But Manning and O'Brien each added goals for some much needed breathing room and the 11-8 advantage with 20:15 remaining.
The two squads traded went back and forth and three goals apiece over the next ten minutes capped off by a Hazen free position shot as Becker stayed within striking distance at the 10:03 mark (13-11) before the Blue and Gold would seize momentum and close out the game with a 3-1 spurt for the final score.
Worcester State enjoyed slight advantages in shots (37-31), attempts on goal (30-24) and ground balls (20-17) while Becker was ahead in final draws (16-12). The Lancers were 5-of-12 on free positions as the Hawks were 4-for-9.
The Blue and Gold will play again on the road at Western Connecticut on Tuesday at 7 PM. Becker will take the week off and play unbeaten Bridgewater State on Saturday at 12 PM.