By Mark Macyk, LaxMagazine.com –

The Curry College women's lacrosse team is off to its best start in school history. Senior Ashley Hansbury has 52 points in five games. With 399 career points, she's just 41 away from a Division III record, currently held by Curry's own Nikki MacKay (2008).

But they aren't throwing parties in Milton, Mass. just yet. Hot starts and scoring records are nice, but the Colonels have their eyes on a bigger prize -- a Commonwealth Coast Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament, heights the team have never scaled.

"It's a long road to May 6," said Curry coach Caitlin Roberts of the conference tournament. "Teams want to give us an upset. They don't want us to go undefeated. Everyone wants to hand us our first loss."

But Curry is playing like a team that doesn't want to lose.

Take Tuesday's 13-12 win at Roger Williams. The Colonels trailed 4-0, 9-6 and 10-7. Midway through the second half, the first loss of the season became a distinct possibility. But Curry fired back with five straight goals and went up 12-10 on a free position from Ana Bottary with 10 minutes left. With two minutes remaining, Roger Williams' Danica Delia tied it with her fourth goal of the game.

Curry didn't break. Hansbury held the ball and waited for the perfect shot.

"I told her we're either gonna take it into overtime or she's gonna score the game-winner," Roberts said.

Hansbury got her shot and missed it, but grabbed the rebound and put in the game-winner with five seconds remaining.

"It was huge," Roberts said. "I told the girls on the bus I wouldn't have wanted to beat that team any other way. We had been beating teams up, averaging 18-19 goals. The fact that we were able to recover gave us so much confidence. I've had teams in the past that couldn't mentally recover from that."

Hansbury's heroics came on the heels of a 15-point performance earlier this month against Mount Ida. She's making her senior season count, because it's the two-time CCC Player of the Year's final chance.

"She's not thinking of breaking a record or another player of the year," Roberts said. "Her ultimate goal is to win a championship. She's played sports her entire life and never won a championship."

To reach that elusive championship, Curry will likely have to dethrone Endicott, the five-time defending CCC champion. They'll square off in the regular season on April 2.

The career scoring mark is also very much within reach for Hansbury -- she'll have at least 11 more games to get the 41 points needed to break MacKay's record. Roberts doesn't see a Curry player threatening the record, which had previously stood since 1996, as a coincidence. Talent is there, if you know where to look. Hansbury is from nearby Chelmsford, Mass.; MacKay from Framingham, Mass.

"I look at is as I've had two Division I players," Roberts said. "Part of recruiting is selling the program and selling the school. A lot of people ask me, 'Where do you do your recruiting?' I start in Mass. There's amazing talent in the area."

Curry will look to keep its streak going at home  Saturday against another Massachusetts team, Gordon.