Worcester, MA --- Senior Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, MA) potted five goals and a trio of assists with 10 ground balls, nine caused turnovers and six draw controls to help pace second-seeded Curry to a 24-3 victory over #3 Rivier in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III Women's Lacrosse New England Tournament at John Coughlin Memorial Field this afternoon.
The Colonel's (10-9) advance to Sunday's championship at 1 PM where they will take top-seeded Worcester State. The matchup sets up an ECAC quarterfinal rematch from last season that saw the Lancers upset Curry, 11-10 in Milton.
The Raiders wrap up their 2014 campaign at 9-9 overall.
The Colonels had 17 different goal scorers on the day.
Other standouts for Curry included senior Kelly Ethier (Merrimack, NH) who notched a hat-trick which was a career-best. Classmate Haley Carey (N. Milford, CT) netted a goal and chipped in with five assists for six total points. She also had four ground balls, four draws and a pair of forced miscues.
Sophomore Alexis Cran (Branford, CT) and senior Deanna Monfredo (W. Islip, NY) each had four points on a tally and three helpers.
Senior Kaitlin Cloutier (Montpelier, VT) had two goals and an assist for three points while freshmen Malorie Knowlton (Norfolk, MA) and Kelly Parker (Branford, CT) each had two points on a goal and a helper.
Nine other Curry players enjoyed a goal in the contest to round out the scorers. Sophomores Leigha Sweeny (Braintree, MA), Katie Nolan (Lakeville, MA) and Emma Bolton (Mahwah, NJ) and freshmen Rachel Smith (Arlington, MA), Lauren Carroll (Providence, RI), Abby Carnevale (Beverly, MA) and Alli Schoff (Berwick, Maine) all had a tally.
Rivier was paced by freshman Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, MA) who netted all three markers for the Raiders.
Amanda Wickens and junior Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, MA) combined for 13 draw controls while junior Mackenzie Flagg (Shirley, MA) was a standout defensively with three ground balls and a pair of forced miscues between the pipes for the Raiders.
Curry opened the games scoring with the 5-0 advantage by the 20:09 mark. Wicken's tallied her 48th goal of the campaign to break the stretch, but then the Colonel's went on a 9-0 run to lead 14-1 with 8:32 remaining in the opening frame.
After leading 18-2 at the intermission, Curry outscored their opponents 7-1 for the final score.
Junior Christina Wallis (Peabody, MA) and sophomore Annie Douglas (Manchester, NH) split one half each in the victory for the Colonels. Douglas stopped four shots in the second period as Wallis recorded one save in the opening frame.
Flagg turned aside six shots on goal in the cage for Rivier.
Curry finished with advantages on shots on goal (30-8) and ground balls (33-15) as the Raiders held a slight advantage in draw controls, 15-14. (Game Recap Courtesy of Worcester State Sports Information)