Posted: Apr 18, 2015

Women's Lacrosse Thumps Southern Vermont

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's lacrosse squad halted their two-game skid with a 19-8 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) win over visiting Southern Vermont College at Leary Field Saturday afternoon. The Blazers improve to 6-6 overall, and 4-1 in NECC play, while Southern Vermont drops to 3-6, and 2-3 on the year.

Tied 1-1 after the opening minutes of play, the Blazers pulled ahead with a four-goal spurt, featuring a pair of goals from senior Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.) to capture a 5-1 lead. The Mountaineers trimmed into their deficit with back-to-back goals from sophomore Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) to make it a 5-3 game. Elms raced ahead again behind a pair of goals from junior Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) and a strike from senior Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) to stake the Blazers to an 8-3 advantage. Leading 9-4, the Blazers closed the first half with six goal run to take a 14-4 lead into halftime.

The offenses slowed down in the second half with Southern Vermont cutting the Blazers lead to 15-6 on goals from sophomores Lauren Nesshoever (Rutland, Vt.) and Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.). Up 17-7 in the second half, the Blazers used goals from freshman Madison Crawford (Bennington, Vt.) and a pair from McDonough to secure the 19-8 win over the Mountaineers.

The Blazers outshot Southern Vermont, 31-26, during the game, while Southern Vermont won draw controls, 15-13. Elms sophomore goalkeeper Meegan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) stopped 10 shots in the win. Mountaineers freshman goalie Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) made seven saves for Southern Vermont.

The Blazers will look to continue their winning ways with a home tilt against Regis College Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Southern Vermont travels to MCLA Monday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. draw.