Richard Scores 100th Goal As Blazers Knock Off SVC On The Road

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Elms College picked up its fourth consecutive win on Thursday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's lacrosse action at Southern Vermont, with the visiting Blazers taking the tilt by an 18-6 margin at Everett Field.

Elms never trailed after scoring the first three goals and eventually went on top 12-5 by halftime. The Blazers then held SVC scoreless through the opening 24 minutes of the second period to walk out with the win.

With Thursday's outcome, Elms clinches a bye into the NECC semifinals, and will host playoff match at Leary Field on Thursday, May 3.

The Blazers ran out to a quick 3-0 lead which included a pair of goals in 11 seconds' time. SVC cut it to a one-goal game, but Elms would pull away with six unanswered goals for a comfortable advantage. Elms sophomore Alicia Keesee (Westfield, Mass.) had three of those goals while junior Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) had two and assisted on another pair.

Keesee racked up seven goals in addition to posting an assist and five ground balls. Vurno had five goals and four assists while senior Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) chalked up seven draw controls, five ground balls, four assists, and three caused turnovers.

Blazer sophomore Haley Richard (Monson, Mass.) would score twice in-a-row early in the second half to make it a 15-5 game and keep the clock moving; her second of that pair was her fourth of the day and 100th goal of her career. Elms added a few more insurance tallies the rest of the way before Safford found the score sheet with her 43rd goal of the year at the 5:21 mark.

Southern Vermont freshman Mia Prouty (Bennington, Vt.) scored three goals while adding six ground balls and two caused turnovers to her line. Classmate Alex Safford (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) notched a goal to extend her scoring streak to 11-straight games while senior captain Stephany Ferreira (Shelton, Conn.) tallied a goal, four ground balls, and two draw controls.

SVC senior goalie Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) made six saves in the first 37:54 of the loss (3-5) as her Elms freshman counterpart Emily Huber (Jefferson, Maine.) turned away five shots in the victory (7-8).

Both teams wrap up the regular season at 12 p.m. on Saturday with Southern Vermont (5-8, 4-2 NECC) visiting Mitchell College while Elms (7-8, 6-0 NECC) visits Wheelock.