MILTON, Mass. – In a conference match-up on Wednesday evening, Curry College defeated the University of New England, 14-12.  With the win the Colonels improve to 13-4 overall and 5-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The win also secures a home quarterfinal game as the #4 seed. The Nor’easters fell to 6-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.  UNE finished as the #6 seed in the conference.

Curry was led by junior Haley Carey (New Milford, Conn.) who finished the game with seven points on six goals and one assist. Senior Ana Bottary (Hull, Mass.) finished with five points, netting three goals and chipping in with two helpers.  UNE was led by junior Hannah Tavella (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and sophomore Gina Newsome (Danbury, Conn.) who each had five points.  Tavella tallied four goals and one assist and Newsome had two goals and three assists.

Curry junior Kaitlin Cloutier (Montpelier, Vt.) enjoyed a solid game on a goal and two helpers.  Two Colonels had two points on the night.  Junior Deanna Monfredo (West Islip, N.Y.) and freshman Emma Bolton (Saddle River, N.J.) each netted a goal and had an assist.  Juniors Kelly Ethier (Merrimack, N.H.) and Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, Mass.) fired in one goal apiece.  Brickey also had 10 draw controls, five caused turnovers and four groundballs.   

UNE's sophomore Hannah Warren (Harrison, Maine) tallied four points on two goals and two assists.  Junior Johanna Currier (Holderness, N.H.) and sophomore Macki Hill (York Beach, Maine) finished with two points. Currier had two goals and led her team with six draw controls.  Hill had a tally and a helper.  Sophomore Nikki Smith (Shapleigh, Maine) rounded out the scoring for the Nor’easters with a goal and senior Emily Lodge (Lyman, Maine) had one assist.

The Colonels got on the board first just 1:31 into the opening frame.  The Nor’easters however quickly tied it 21 seconds later.  Curry took a 3-2 lead with 19:52 remaining in the half but UNE went on a three goal run over the next three minutes to go up 5-3. Curry regained their lead after they went on their own three goal scoring spree.  The teams traded tallies over the next eight minutes with the Colonels netting the final score with 33 seconds showing on the clock.  Curry went into the half with a 9-8 lead.

The final 30 minutes was an exciting half to watch.  The Colonels took a two goal lead at 10-8 but UNE answered back just minutes later on a man-up situation to cut the lead back to one.  Curry netted two goals 36 seconds apart from each other to gain their biggest stretch at 12-9.  The Colonels held possession of the ball for nearly four minutes until the Nor’easters were able to reel off three of their own to tie the game at 12-12 with 9:23 left to play.  Curry called a time out to regroup and fired off the final two goals of the game, one at 6:57 and the next at 6:26.  The Colonels defense came up big by causing a few turnovers which allowed Curry to have control of the ball while the clock ticked down for the 14-12 victory. 

Earning the win in the cage for the Colonels was sophomore Christina Wallis (Peabody, Mass.) who made seven stops.  Freshman Courtney Kendall (Waltham, Mass.) was solid between the pipes for UNE as she came up with 13 saves in 60 minutes of play. 

Curry returns to action on Saturday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. when they host the #5 seed Roger Williams in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Quarterfinal game.  The #6 seeded UNE will travel to the #3 seed Gordon College on Saturday, April 27 also for a 1:00 p.m. start.