MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Endicott women's lacrosse team traveled to #9 Middlebury on Saturday afternoon for a Second Round matchup in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The Panthers took a 19-7 victory over the Blue and Green to stay alive in the tournament. Endicott ends the season at 14-4 while Middlebury improves to 12-5 and advances to the third round of the national tournament.
Entering the matchup both sides were in the New England Regional Rankings, the Panthers were ranked #5 while the Gulls deservingly found a spot at #9.
Endicott earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after earning the programs ninth consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship. In the title game in Gulls territory junior Siri Mason (Williamstown, Mass.) accepted a feed from senior Callie Murphy (Woburn, Mass.) and scored as time expired to lift the Blue and Green to a thrilling triumph.
The first half was controlled by the Panthers as they lead 12-4 at the end of the half. Senior goalkeeper Ryan Socolow (Westford, Mass.) made six saves in first 30 minutes while four different Gulls posted goals led by Murphy who recorded two points.
Middlebury started the scoring early taking a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes off goals by sophomores Megan Griffin (Sudbury, Mass.) and Laurel Pascal (Greenwich, Conn.). The Panthers then followed with two more goals by the 23rd minute mark to take a 4-0 lead.
Endicott finally got on the board at 21:13 as freshman Emily Whitney beat goalkeeper senior, Alyssa Palomba (Shrewsbury, Mass.) with help from freshman Meghan Lennon (Canton, Mass.) to make it a 4-1 score. The Panthers answered back by scoring six straight, unanswered goals led by Pascal and sophomore Alli Sciarretta (Wilton, Conn.).
Murphy got the second goal on the board for the Blue and Green with 6:45 remaining in the half off a pass from Mason to make it a 10-2 score. After two more goals by the Panthers the Gulls closed out the half with back to back goals. The first came from junior Ellie Clayman (Beverly, Mass.) and the second came off a combo play with junior Kirsten Thor (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Murphy to make it a 12-4 score at the end of the first 30 minutes of play.
The second half was a closer contest as the Panthers just outscored the Blue and Green 7-3. Clayman lead the half with two goals while Murphy tallied the third goal in the half. Middlebury found the back of the net first in the second half as Sciarretta beat Socolow to make it a nine goal game. Clayman answered back quickly less than a minute later off an unassisted play for her second goal of the game.
The Panthers fired back with four straight goals to take a 17-5 lead but the Blue and Green would not give up as Murphy and Clayman posted the final goals of the half for Endicott. Despite the efforts it was not enough as Middlebury took to 19-7 victory to move on in the national tournament.
Clayman led the game with three goals and posted two caused turnovers while Murphy also posted three points with a pair of goals and an assist.
