Women’s Lacrosse Outlasted By Thomas College, 17-9

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior midfielder Jennifer Lough (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and sophomore attacker Chelsey Grabowski (South Hadley, Mass.) combined for all nine of the Blazers’ goals, but a seven-goal effort from Megan Denby (Copiague, N.Y.) and a six-goal output from Kiley Jolicoeur (Oakland, Maine) lifted Thomas College to a 17-9 victory in Saturday afternoon’s non-conference women’s lacrosse game at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms falls to 0-7 on the season, while Thomas improves to 2-2 overall.

Elms got on the board quickly to start the game as Lough netted the first of her team-high five tallies just 34 seconds into the contest. Jolicoeur answered to knot the game at 1-1 before Grabowski fired one past the goalkeeper on a free position attempt to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead at the 25:49 mark of the first half.

Thomas then struck for seven unanswered goals, highlighted by four from Denby and two from Jolicoeur to post a 9-2 lead.

Grabowski and Lough each added another score for Elms in the opening 30 minutes, but Denby matched the effort with two goals of her own to give the Terriers an 11-4 advantage at intermission.

The Blazers pulled to within six with just 4:40 gone by in the second frame when Lough controlled a pass from senior attacker Ashley Ziemba (Chicopee, Mass.) and then beat the keeper for her third goal of the contest with 28:20 remaining in the game. Lough found the back of the net three minutes later to set the score at 11-6.

Thomas then used three scores by Jolicoeur and one from Claire Wyman (Dexter, Maine) to extend the lead to 15-6 with 10:19 to play in the contest. Elms responded with three of the next five goals (one from Lough, two from Grabowski) but it was not enough as the Terriers were able to hold on for the 17-9 victory.

Lough picked up 11 groundballs, won three draws and caused six turnovers, while Grabowski gathered in seven groundballs and controlled three draws to pace the Blazers in the losing effort. Sophomore defender Emily McInerney (Glastonbury, Conn.) and sophomore midfielder Kim Jodoin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) each added five groundballs and combined to cause seven turnovers.

Blazers' senior goalkeeper Krystyna Gagne (Methuen, Mass.) stopped eight shots in the loss.

Denby scooped a game-best 13 groundballs, while Jolicoeur won a game-high nine draws in the win for Thomas.

Sarah Marckoon (Lamoine, Maine), Ceara Dibiase (Westbrook, Maine) and Katie Foyle (Salem, N.H.) each scored a goal, while Denby and Dibiase contributed an assist each.

Terriers' goalie Teshia Cates (Skowhegan, Maine) notched 15 saves to preserve the win for Thomas.

Elms returns to non-conference action Thursday, April 8 when it travels to Weston, Mass. to take on the Regis College Pride. First-draw is slated for 4:00 p.m.