MILTON, Mass. – Eight different players registered a goal as the University of New England women's lacrosse team defeated Curry College, 18-9, on Wednesday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.
The Nor'easters improved to 7-6 overall and 4-1 in the CCC while the Colonels dropped to 8-7 and 2-4 in league games.
UNE took a 7-0 lead in the opening 11:39 and never looked back. Curry snapped the seven-goal run and got on the board with a marker on a player advantage by sophomore Allie Wysocki (Agawam, Mass.) off a pass from freshman Andria Torres (Milford, Conn.). The Colonels cut the deficit to five 34 seconds later on a goal by sophomore Colleen Donnelly (Atkinson, N.H.) on a free position shot. The Nor'easters answered back with a free position goal of their own coming from sophomore Molly Camelo (Melrose, Mass.). The Colonels came back with two straight, one apiece from Wysocki and Donnelly to halve the lead, 8-4 with under 10 minutes to play in the first half. UNE closed out the stanza with four straight goals, two coming from sophomore Casey Conwell (North Andover, Mass.), to take 12-4 lead into halftime.
Donnelly opened the scoring in the second half, netting her third goal for her first collegiate hat trick. Camelo pushed the lead back to eight with a marker. The helper was awarded to senior Nichole Carvalho (South Kingstown, R.I.). The next 11 minutes were spearheaded by two 3-0 runs, one from each team. Freshman Nicole Corriveau (Colchester, Vt.), senior Olivia Carpenter (Middlebury, Vt.), and sophomore Julia Benjamin (Tolland, Conn.) tallied goals on the run while Torres, junior Leona Stevens (Kingston, Mass.), and junior Abby Dubel (Wolfeboro, N.H.) had the goals for the Colonels to make the score, 16-9. UNE scored twice more in a 17-second span, one each from Camelo and Carvalho to make the score 18-9, the eventual final.
Camelo and Conwell led the way with four goals and one assist apiece for the visitors. Carvalho followed with a hat trick plus two helpers. Carpenter registered three goals and one assist. Four others found the back of the net in the victory for the Nor'easters.
Defensively, sophomore Taylor Hopkins (Pelham, N.H.) picked up her seventh win of the year while making eight saves. Carpenter added five ground balls, 11 draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers.
For Curry, Donnelly led the way with her hat trick. Torres followed with two goals and one helper. Wysocki pitched in two markers while Dubel and Stevens rounded out the scoring column.
On the defensive side, freshman goalie Jessica Ginaitt made 11 stops in net in the setback. Torres had two draw controls, with Ginaitt leading the defense with six ground balls. Dubel pitched in four caused turnovers to lead the team in the category.
UNE held a 41-35 edge in shots for the contest. The Nor'easters doubled up the Colonels on draw controls, 20-10. Both teams were effective in the free position portion of the game, each netting six. UNE went 6-for-12 while Curry finished 6-for-13.
Curry will travel to Nichols on Saturday, April 13 for its regular season road finale at 2:00 p.m. UNE returns home to host Salve Regina on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
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