Women's Lacrosse Rallies Over Green Mountain

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's lacrosse team delivered a 14-13 comeback victory over visiting Green Mountain College in non-conference action at Leary Field Tuesday night. The Blazers improve to 2-4 overall, while the Eagles drop to 1-4 on the year.

The Blazers recorded the first strike as sophomore Haley Roberts (Westfield, Mass.) converted off a pass from freshman Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) to stake Elms to 1-0 lead at the 22:23 mark. The Eagles responded with three straight goals over the next four minutes as sophomore Catie Brewster (Kingston, N.Y.) sandwiched a pair of goals around a tally from senior Martha Howe (Sunapee, N.H.) to put Green Mountain ahead 3-1. Trailing 4-2, the Blazers evened the score on back-to-back goals from sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) and Vurno in a 30-second span in the 16^th minute. After Brewster and Soucia traded goals, Green Mountain added goals from sophomore Megan Scully (Henderson, N.Y.) and Brewster, her fifth of the half, to give the Eagles a 7-5 lead at the half.

Green Mountain opened the second half with a pair of goals form Howe to push the Eagles lead to 9-5 with 26:41 to play. The Blazers rallied back with three straight goals, capped off by a tally from sophomore Madison Jung (Stafford Springs, Conn.), her first of the season, to trim the deficit to 9-8 with 18:31 remaining. Howe and Brewster went back-to-back to rebuild an 11-8 advantage with 14:10 on the clock. Elms roared back with another three-goal spurt, featuring a goal and an assist from Vurno, over the next three minutes to tie things at 11-11. The Eagles grabbed the lead behind goals from Scully and Brewster, but Elms answered with strikes from Pirog and Cava to even the game at 13-13 with 4:31 to play. At the 1:53 mark, Vurno found Pirog in front of the Eagles net for the game-winner.

The Blazers outshot the Eagles, 30-22, during the contest. Elms sophomore goalkeeper Octavia McAllister (Springfield, Mass.) made five saves in her first career appearance, while Green Mountain freshman Chelsea Wimble (Colchester, Vt.) stopped a game-high nine shots.

Pirog led the Blazers attack with a team-high four goals. Vurno notched a game-high seven points with a game-high five assists and two goals. Cava recorded four points with two goals and two assists, while Soucia registered her third hat trick of the season.

Brewster paced the Eagles with a game-high seven goals in the loss. Howe added four goals, while Scully had three points with two goals and an assist.

The Blazers will be back in action when they open their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) schedule against Wheelock at Leary Field on March 30^th at 7:00 p.m. Green Mountain travels to Maine Maritime Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 p.m. game.

ELMS LACROSSE