Cape Cod, MA --- Worcester State team has earned the fifth seed in the upcoming ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse Tournament and they will play #4 Curry on Wednesday in the Quarterfinal round at 6 PM in Milton.
Should the Lancers earn the victory over the Colonels, they will take on top-seeded Western New England University on Saturday in the Semifinals. Both #2 Mount Holyoke and third-seeded Southern Maine have received first-round byes and will play on Saturday in the other Semifinal matchup.
Both squads enter the contest coming off tremendous turnaround seasons. Curry is 4-0 in the all-time series.
Worcester State tied the NCAA Division III record with nine turnaround wins set by SUNY Oneonta last season with an overall mark of 12-4 after a win this past Tuesday over Mass Maritime in the MASCAC Quarterfinals after they finished the 2012 campaign at 3-11.
The Blue and Gold are paced by freshman standout Jackie Connors (Ashland, MA) who has netted 43 goals and dished out 23 assists for a team-best 66 points. Connors set single-season records in ground balls (59) and caused turnovers (24) while she is nine helpers off the tying the campaign mark.
Other offensive standouts include sophomore Molly Kilday (Westford, MA) who leads the team with 43 goals and freshman Kalia Chase (Northbridge, MA) has potted 35 markers. Defensively, freshman Katelyn Murphy (Billerica, MA) is second on the team in ground balls (48) and she is second on the team with 23 forced miscues.
WSU earns their fifth bid to the ECAC Division III Tournament, are 1-4 all-time and made four straight appearances from 2006 through 2009. The Lancers were ECAC Tournament Semifinalists in 2006 and 2007.
Curry went 7-10 last year and finished off their regular season with an overall mark of 14-4. If the Colonel's earn the triumph on Wednesday, they will look for revenge in the next round against the top-seeded Golden Bears who knocked them out last Thursday in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament Semifinals, 19-15.
Junior Haley Carey (N. Milford, MA) propels the Curry offense with 73 goals while right behind is senior Ana Bottary (Hull, MA) who has netted 63 goals and doled out 51 helpers for 114 points – a total that was fourth in the NCAA Division III last week.
Junior Mel Brickley (Chelmsford, MA) leads the Colonel's defensively with an NCAA Division III best 79 caused turnovers to go with 150 draws and 82 ground balls. Sophomore netminder Christina Watts (Peabody, MA) has a .427 save percentage and 118 saves on the campaign.
Curry, who captured their fifth ECAC Tournament bid is 6-4 all-time with title game appearances in 2004, 2006 and 2011.
2013 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse Tournament Bracket