Women's Lacrosse Falls to Wheelock in NECC Opener

Kaleigh Anderson (@KaleighAnd1)

CHICOPEE, Mass. –The Elms College women's lacrosse team fell to rival Wheelock College, 13-5, in their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener Wednesday evening at Leary Field. With the loss the Blazers drop to 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in the NECC, while the Wildcats rise to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

The Wildcats gained quick momentum in the first going on a three goal stint within the first seven minutes of action, posting their initial goal just a minute into the contest off the stick of Colleen McDonald (Sandwich, Mass.) on a free position shot. Emma Marrs (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Georgia Schindele (Sparkill, NY.) netted the second two for Wheelock as they earned a 3-0 advantage at the 22:56 marker. From there the Blazers would push back with a Haley Roberts (Westfield, Mass.) bullet after Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) harnessed a ground ball and was able to run it up the field and into the stick of Roberts for the tally. The Blazers went on to post there second goal of the evening at the 5:59 mark after Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) forced a Wildcat turnover and found the stick of Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) for the bounce shot score. However, the Wildcats would continue on their high paced attack lighting up the scoreboard three more times before heading into the second half owning a 6-2 advantage.

Tensions were high at the start of the second with the Wildcats leading by 4.  Wheelock struck first and went on to net the first four goals of the half headed by McDonald with three markers of her own upping the Wildcat advantage to 10-2. The Blazers were able to get on the scoreboard once again with 15:33 remaining when Soucia found Vurno from behind the net enabling a Vurno rocket to fly past the keeper for Elms. Soucia would collect her own mark of the evening with 13:47 to go, however Wheelock would hold strong eventually ending the night owning a 13-5 scoreboard. Vurno ended the scoring efforts for the Blazers netting the last goal of the contest with 1:34 remaining in regulation.

Vurno totaled a team high two goals on the night, while Soucia, Cava, and Roberts each totaled one for the Blazers. McDonald and Marrs led all scorers with four goals apiece for Wheelock.  

Meaghan Lewis (South Berwick, ME.) made six saves for the Wildcats, while Octavia McAllister (Springfield, Mass.) made seven saves for Elms.

The Blazers return back to action Saturday April 2^nd when they travel to Mitchell College, while the Wildcats play host to Bay Path Saturday April 2^nd for a 12:00pm start. 

ELMS LACROSSE