Westfield State University Downs Women’s Lacrosse, 21-6
CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior attacker Emily Walsh (Hadley, Mass.) scored three goals, but five scores from Westfield State University's Laura Chiricosta (Lexington, Mass.) and a 16-goal first period helped pace the Owls to a 21-6 victory in Saturday afternoon's New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) contest at Leary Field.
With the loss Elms concludes its season 3-13 overall, 0-7 in conference play, while Westfield State improves to 9-4 on the season, 4-3 in NEWLA action.
Westfield State jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on the strength of Chiricosta's first score and a pair of goals from Rachel Dionne (Feeding Hills, Mass.) over the first 8:12 before Elms' freshman midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) capitalized on a free position shot to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Four more goals by the Owls lifted the lead to 8-1 before Walsh and junior attacker Chelsey Grabowski (South Hadley, Mass.) registered back-to-back tallies at the 15:05 and 12:47 marks of the first half to set the score at 8-3.
Chiricosta's third goal made it 9-3 before Walsh found the back of the net for a second time to pull Elms back to within five.
Westfield State then struck for seven scores in the final 10 minutes of the first half, highlighted by two goals by Lee Meskevich (Becket, Mass.) and Nicole Dipilato (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to give the Owls a commanding 16-4 lead at halftime.
Carly Keeley (Feeding Hills, Mass.) scorched the net 1:16 into the second period before Grabowski scored to set the score at 17-5 but Westfield scored four of the final five goals to secure a 21-6 victory.
Dipilato finished with three goals, while Dionne, Maura Stack (Wilbraham, Mass.), Keeley, Meskevich, and Sarah Giardino (Foxboro, Mass.) fired in two goals apiece. Dionne also added four assists, while Chiricosta, Genna Raffaelo (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Stack handed out three helpers each.
Jill Robinson (Salem, Mass.) earned the win between the pipes, registering eight saves, while Blazers' freshman net-minder Julie Hurley (Palmer, Mass.) suffered the loss and also made eight stops.
Lyons scooped up three groundballs to lead Elms, while Meskevich picked up six to lead Westfield State.
