April 8, 2009
BIDDEFORD, Maine - Junior Valerie Feldman (Albany, N.Y.) scored four goals and added three assists to lead the Endicott College women's lacrosse team to a 17-13 The Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over the University of New England on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the Gulls remain unbeaten in TCCC play with a 5-0 mark while improving to 8-2 with their sixth straight triumph. The Nor'easters drop below .500 in conference play (2-3) and now stand at 3-7 overall.
Both teams started out slowly on the attack, with each squad finding the back of the cage just once in the opening 10 minutes. Endicott took a 2-1 lead at the 19:09 mark on an unassisted goal by sophomore Kellie Cunningham (Derry, N.H.) and would not trail the rest of the afternoon.
After back-to-back goals by sophomore Kate McCarter (Bellingham, Mass.) made the score 5-4 in favor of Endicott, the Gulls rattled off three consecutive goals to double-up the hosts at 8-4. Junior Kim Bilodeau (Durham, Maine) cut Endicott's momentum with a score at 4:15 to make the score 8-5 heading into intermission.
Feldman tallied three of the first five goals of the second half to help Endicott build a 12-7 cushion, but the Nor'easters answered by scoring three of the next four goals -- two by McCarter -- to close within three at 13-10.
The Nor'easters continued to apply pressure and eventually got within two at 14-12 on a goal by junior Mallory Long (Lewiston, Maine) with 4:09 on the clock.
Senior Alex Pearce (Underhill, Vt.) notched a key score for the Gulls, giving them at 15-12 advantage and some much-needed breathing room.
Endicott would score a pair of goals in the final minute to help put the game away.
Pearce matched Feldman with four goals for the winners. Freshman Morgan DeShaw (Danville, N.H.) came off the bench to convert all three of her shot attempts for a hat-trick. Cunningham played a strong all-around game for the Gulls with a pair of goals, five ground balls and three draw controls.
UNE's McCarter led all goal scorers with a career-high six. Long chipped in with three markers to go with four draw controls. Junior Ginny Lee (York, Maine) was credited with four ground balls and four draw controls.
Freshman goalie Leah Neff (South Berwick, Maine) made seven saves for Endicott, while her counterpart -- sophomore Tara Geraghty (Barrington, R.I.) -- recorded eight for the Nor'easters.
The Gulls will place their winning streak on the line Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. home contest versus Nichols College. UNE heads to Western New England College that same afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. game.
