Southern Vermont Downs Women's Lacrosse In NECC Playoff Opener

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

BENNINGTON, Vt. – The sixth-seeded Elms College women's lacrosse team fell to host third-seed Southern Vermont College, 18-10, in the opening round of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Women's Lacrosse Championship at Everett Field Tuesday evening. The Blazers wrap their campaign with a 7-10 record, while the Mountaineers register their first ever postseason victory to improve to 6-10 on the season.

The Mountaineers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opening four minutes, but the Blazers pulled even behind strikes from senior Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) and sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.) to put the score at 2-2 with 15:46 on the clock. Southern Vermont regained the lead on a tally from junior Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.), followed by a pair of goals from junior Lauren Nesshoever (Chittenden, Vt.) to build a 5-2 advantage with 11:15 left in the first half. Pirog cut the lead to 5-3, but the Mountaineers closed the frame with goals from Orrell and Nesshoever to hold a 7-3 edge heading into halftime.

Southern Vermont pushed their lead to 9-3 until a goal from Elms freshman Mackenzie Hill () at the 27:00 mark halted the Mountaineers run. SVC freshman Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, N.Y.) and sophomore Paige Vitale (Greenville, N.Y.) went back-to-back in the span of a minute to extend the gap to 11-4. Elms senior Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) got the Blazers back on the board with 24:27 to go, but the Mountaineers rattled off a five unanswered goals to gather a 16-5 lead. Blazers sophomore Madison Crawford (Bennington, Vt.) and Hill netted consecutive strikes to trim the gap to 16-7. Nesshoever scored with 7:25 to go, followed by a response strike from Soucia, and then tallies from Cava sandwiched a goal from Nesshoever as the Mountaineers claimed the 18-10 win.

Cava led the Blazers attack with three goals and an assist, while Pirog, Soucia and Hill netted two goals apiece. Crawford added a goal, and freshman Vanessa Vurno (Salem, Conn.) dished out two assists.

Southern Vermont was powered by Nesshoever with a game-high eight goals and an assist. Orrell registered a hat trick with two assists, while Vierstra and freshman Stephany Ferreira (Shelton, Conn.) notched two goals and an assist each.

Southern Vermont edged Elms in shots, 32-26, and draw controls, 19-10, while the Blazers won the groundball battle, 27-22. Elms sophomore Alissa Porfilio (Agawam, Mass.) stopped six shots, while Mountaineers sophomore Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) made a game-high eight saves in the win.

The Blazers have concluded play for the season. Southern Vermont advances to the NECC Championship semifinals, and will travel to second-seeded Becker College for a playoff match Thursday night.

ELMS LACROSSE