CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Top-seeded Western New England (16-5 overall) will host the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England Women’s Lacrosse Championship that will be contested on Saturday at Golden Bear Stadium in Springfield, Mass.  What started as a four-team tournament has been reduced to the two that will be competing for the title after Wednesday’s semifinal matchups.  The Golden Bears knocked off fourth-seeded Simmons College (7-6), 22-2, at Western New England, and No. 2 host Curry College (16-4) held off Lasell College (11-7), 20-12.

The championship game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, preceding the two semifinal matchups for the ECAC Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship, also being hosted at Golden Bear Stadium by the Western New England men’s squad (14-5).

The Golden Bears finished the regular season atop The Commonwealth Coast Conference standings with a 10-1 league record and earned the No. 1 seed in the TCCC tournament with a 15-12 victory over Endicott College, which also finished at 10-1 in conference.  However, Endicott took the TCCC title and the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament with a 10-4 win over WNE last Saturday.  They will be vying for their third ECAC New England Women’s Lacrosse crown, which would come in a four-year span, as they won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009.

Western New England is led by TCCC Coach of the Year, Aimee Klepacki.  In her 12 seasons at the helm for the Golden Bears, she has never recorded a losing season.  She’s also led the team to five New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance championship banners and five NCAA Division III tournament appearances.  On the field, TCCC Defensive Player of the Year- and senior captain Nicole Poli, has helped the team hold opponents to a 7.24 goals-against average on just 18.6 shots per game.  She’s collected 83 ground balls on the season to accompany 80 caused turnovers in just 21 games.  Before Wednesday’s semifinal, her 3.85 caused turnovers per game ranked third in NCAA Division III.  She has also pitched in on the offensive end with 26 goals and eight assists.  The Golden Bears have a well-rounded ability to score, with three players recording over 75 points on the season.  One of those three is the TCCC Rookie of the Year in Kelsey Daniels, a midfielder from South Windsor, Conn., who has posted 22 assists and a team-high 72 goals for the season, just one more than senior attacker Jeanmarie Barbato.  Along with Barbato, Poli and Daniels, Western New England goalkeeper Marissa Bonitatibus was selected to the All-TCCC first team, and junior midfielder Katie Toomy (46 g, 31 a) received second team honors.

Curry College enters the game with one of the most dangerous scorers in the NCAA.  A three-time ECAC Offensive Player of the Week (March 22, March 29 and April 12), senior attacker Ashley Hansbury (Chelmsford, Mass.) led all divisions in goals (102) and goals per game (5.67).  She also led Division III in points per game (7.83) and the TCCC in draw controls per game (5.33) and shots per game (10.83).  For her efforts, Hansbury was named the TCCC Offensive Player of the Year and is a strong candidate for ECAC Offensive Player of the Year.  She is accompanied on the All-TCCC first team by teammates Jessie Koffman (Andover, Mass.), a senior attacker, and first-year defender Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, Mass.).  On the sidelines, Colonels’ head coach Caitlin Roberts (11th season) will try to lead her squad to its first ECAC Women’s Lacrosse title.  She entered the season ranked 25th in NCAA Division III in all-time wins.  The Colonels, who finished third in the TCCC standings, were knocked out of the conference tournament by eventual-winner Endicott in a close semifinal match, 13-12.

Saturday’s final will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, with Western New England winning on the road, 14-9, back on April 16.  It will be a meeting between the best offensive and defensive teams from the TCCC, with Curry leading the conference in goals per game (16.74), assists per game (7.42), draw controls per game (16.63) and shots per game (36.53).  However, ball possession will be a key factor, as Curry led the league in turnovers per game with 14.0, and Western New England led in caused turnovers per game with 12.55.  The Golden Bears also led in goals-against average (7.51) and save percentage (.497).