2006 NEWMAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT - Wheaton falls short of Springfield, 15-11 in fifth straight title game appearance

April 30, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, MA- The second-seeded Wheaton College women's lacrosse team held a 6-5 halftime advantage during Sunday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship game at top seed Springfield College before being outscored 10-5 in the second stanza, as the Lyons fell to the host Pride, 15-11 in the teams' fifth straight league tournament title game meeting.

Wheaton, which won NEWMAC Tournament championships in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, finishes its season at 9-7, while the Pride, winners of the last two tourney titles and three in the last five seasons, advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament beginning on Wednesday, May 10. Springfield is now 11-5 overall.

The Lyons managed to fight back from a three-goal deficit in the latter part of the second half to knot the score at 11 with 11:12 remaining, but the hosts used four different scorers during a 2:29 span to clinch the victory.

Springfield opened the scoring with the first goal coming at 23:20 of the opening half, but sophomore Sara Dimick (Cumberland, ME/Greely) and freshman Caitlin Grant (Walpole, MA/Walpole) posted consecutive scores to give the Lyons their first lead with 15:24 to play. The two teams were tied at three and four before Pride senior Holly Carmody (Wayland, MA/Wayland) scored with 36 ticks on the clock for a 5-4 edge. Wheaton sophomore Alexa Jurczak (Davidsonville, MD/Miss Porter's School) tallied two goals within 15 seconds of each other to close out the first half, but the Pride opened the second stanza with two tallies and didn't trail the remainder of the contest.

The Pride scored four of the first five goals in the second half, including three by Carmody, for a two-goal lead with 21:19 to go. Lyon sophomore Meredith Hurd (Bath, ME/Hyde School) trimmed the deficit to one with 20:37 on the clock, but two Springfield goals within 47 seconds pushed the host's advantage to three. Wheaton rattled off three straight tallies during a 2:23 span, but Springfield responded with the four consecutive scores while keeping the Lyons off the board.

Hurd led Wheaton with a game-high tying five goals, and Dimick and Jurczak added two tallies apiece. Senior Julia Coit (South Portland, ME/South Portland) turned in a goal and two assists in her final collegiate game, finishing fourth in program history in career goals, sixth in points and seventh in assists. Carmody paced Springfield with five tallies, while four other Pride players contributed two goals each.

Wheaton junior goalie Kristin Konig (Montecito, CA/Cate School) had 11 saves in net. The Pride used two players equally in net, with freshman Nicole Flores (Branford, CT/Branford) earning the victory with 10 saves. Sophomore Kristin Vaccaro (Southington, CT/Southington) had four stops in the first half.

2006 NEWMAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT
Springfield 15, Wheaton 11

SCORING 1st 2nd Final
Wheaton (9-7) 6 5 11
Springfield (11-5) 5 10 15

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Meredith Hurd 5, Sara Dimick 2, Alexa Jurczak 2, Julia Coit, Caitlin Grant; SC- Holly Carmody 5, Heidi Eidse 2, Rachel Lampros 2, Ashley Martell 2, Lisa Thomas 2, Lindsay Bugbee, Christine Nicol

Assists: WC- Coit 2, Jurczak, Abbie Sherwin; SC- Martell 3, Carmody, Eidse

Goalkeeper Saves: WC- Kristin Konig 11; SC- Kristin Vaccaro (30:00) 4, Nicole Flores (30:00) 10

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