May 8, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College women's lacrosse team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament after capturing the 2007 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship.
The Gulls defeated CCC regular season champ and North Shore rival Gordon College 13-12 over the weekend to take their second consecutive conference title and will now head to Hartford, CT for a first round match up with Trinity College. EC sits at 13-5 (7-2, CCC) and has won its last seven games while the Bantams have a 11-4 record after finishing second in the New England Small College Athletic Conference with a 6-3 record.
Trinity fell to Williams College, 14-13 in overtime in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament but was awarded an at-large bid by the tournament selection committee after picking up quality wins over teams like Babson and Wesleyan. Trinity returns to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998 while Endicott makes its second visit to the dance in as many years.
The Blue and Green are led by head coach Kate Mullen (2nd year) who has compiled a 30-8 (.789) record in her two seasons in Beverly. Mullen will look to her powerful offense to get by Trinity as EC has outscored its opponents 271-196. All-CCC attackers Alex Pearce (Underhill, VT/Kimball Union) and Emily Judd (Peabody, MA/Peabody) along with freshman standout Valerie Feldman (Albany, NY/Guilderland) should prove to be a formidable opponent for the Bantam defense.
Feldman paced the Endicott offense all season long posting team highs with 53 goals and 23 assists for 76 points. Pearce and Judd both have NCAA tournament experience as members of last years team and were named to the CCC All-Conference Second Team after posting top notch numbers this season. Pearce was amongst the conference leaders with 49 goals and 19 assists, while Judd scored 28 times and led the team in two crucial categories, groundballs (53) and caused turnovers (30).
Feldman and Pearce provide a strong one-two scoring punch and Judd, the 2006 CCC Defensive Player of the Year, helps the Gulls dictate the flow of the game with her presence in the middle of the field and the ability to force opposing teams to make costly mistakes.
Endicott will also heavily rely on its defense in trying to get out of the tournament's first round. The Gulls backline is anchored by first team All-CCC defender Kaite Leighton (Saco, ME/Thornton). One of the premiere defenders in the conference, Leighton scooped up 41 groundballs and caused 21 turnovers. She is joined on defense by Meghan Mathers (Northampton, MA/Northampton) who was equally effective in shutting down opposing offenses as she picked 34 groundballs off the turf and caused 24 turnovers, while committing just eight. EC will also look to Sara Gunter (Kennebunk, ME/Kennebunk) and Molly Moss (Yarmouth, ME/North Yarmouth Academy) for offensive support.
Erin Curry (Hampstead, NH/Gould Academy) will have to step up in a big spot between the pipes for the Gulls. Curry made 166 saves and posted a 9-4 record with a 12.66 goals against average this season. She is no stranger to big games as the All-CCC First Team net minder led the Gulls field hockey team to the CCC finals, after a thrilling performance in penalty strokes against Salve Regina, and an eventual ECAC New England Championship.
The Gulls will certainly not be underestimating Trinity as the Bantams enter the tournament as the fourth-highest scoring team in the NESCAC with 12.33 goals per game (185) and ranks 15th nationally in caused turnovers with 12.87 per contest. Junior attacker C.J. Yanofsky (Needham, MA) leads the Trinity offense finishing the year third in the league in scoring with 4.07 points per game (61), sixth in goals per game with 2.40 (36), and sixth in assists with 1.67 per game (25).
Lauren Malinowski (Longmeadow, MA) is second on the team in scoring with 34 goals and 12 assists for 46 points, while Jenn Calver (Barnard, VT) has 25 goals and four assists for 29 points, Sarah Remes (Silver Spring, MD) has 23 goals and five assists for 28 points, and Carrie Disa (Wilbraham, MA) adds 17 goals and four assists for 21 points.
Bantam goalie Michelle Smith (Wayland, MA) tops the NESCAC in save percentage at .572 (9th in nation) and ranks second in saves per game with 12.73 (191). She was named the NESCAC Player of the Week, the ECAC Division III New England Player of the Week, and the womenslacrosse.com National Division III Player of the Week for her efforts in consecutive wins over (No. 13) Wesleyan, (No. 10) Williams, and Wellesley.
Trinity enters its match up with the Gulls after a ten day lay-off but has been tested time and time again with one of the nation's most taxing conference schedules playing six of its final nine games against nationally ranked opponents.
The Bantams and Gulls face off on Wednesday, May 9 at 4 p.m. The winner of Wednesday's game will play at Gettysburg College in the second round on Saturday, May 12, followed by a possible quarterfinal game on Sunday, May 13 also at Gettysburg. Tickets are \$3 for adults, \$2 for students w/id, and \$1 for children 12 and under.
