Mitchell Edges Women's Lacrosse In Final Minute

Kaleigh Anderson (@KaleighAnd1)

NEW LONDON, Conn. –The Elms College women's lacrosse team fell to Mitchell College, 15-14, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) game at Alumni Field Saturday afternoon. With the loss the Blazers drop to 2-6 on the season and 0-2 in the NECC, while the Mariners improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

The Blazers came out hot in the first going on a two goal stint, posting their initial goal just a minute and a half into the contest off the stick of Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) from Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.). After four minutes of back-to-back action Cava picked up a grounder and sent it on its way to Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) who netted the second Blazer tally giving Elms a 2-0 advantage with 24:33 remaining in the first.

From there the Mariners would go on a four going spurt, led by Ashley Murtha (South Windsor, Conn.) and Katie McCormack (Narragansett, RI.) capturing two apiece on the run, earning Mitchell a 4-2 advantage.  The Blazers would push back going on a four goal rally of their own kicked off with a Victoria-Lynn Smith (Somers, Conn.) tally at the 15:01 mark, followed by two Soucia scores and another Cava bullet, although both teams kept battling the Blazers ultimately stepped into the second owning a 7-5 scoreboard.

The Blazers struck first at the start of the second with a Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) goal which started back in the defense after Kieran Ramsey (Easthampton, Mass.) forced a turnover to secure an Elms ground ball that was cleared up the field.  Mitchell would fight back with two goals of their own to start their second half comeback creating an 8-6 score. Starting at 16:38 Mitchell would go on a second four goal run ultimately giving them a two point lead with 9:05 left to play.

Soucia went on to score for Elms going on an unassisted run down the right field line to find the back of the Mariner net to bring the Blazers within one. Vurno then latched another Blazer tally onto the board tying things up to a 12-12 contest with five minutes remaining in regulation. Tensions were high as Murtha fired again for the Mariners netting her fourth goal of the afternoon to elevate Mitchell.  Both squads then went back to back with Vurno and Soucia both scoring for Elms. However, Murtha went on to ring in two more unassisted bullets for Mitchell ultimately scoring the winning goal with thirty seconds remaining on the clock to secure the Mariner victory.

Soucia totaled a team high four goals on the day, while Vurno, Cava, and Pirog each totaled three apiece for the Blazers. Murtha led all scorers tallying six goals for Mitchell.  

Samantha Ryan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) made 18 saves for the Mariners, while Octavia McAllister (Springfield, Mass.) made 10 saves for Elms.

The Blazers return back to action Tuesday April 5^th when they travel to Bay Path for 4:00pm, while the Mariners will travel to Daniel Webster Saturday April 5^th for a 4:00pm start. 

ELMS LACROSSE