Posted: Apr 15, 2010
BEVERLY, Mass. – Tufts University’s Sterling Champion (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) scored the game-winning goal with 2:32 remaining in regulation to send the No. 7 ranked Jumbos home with an 11-10 victory over Endicott College on Thursday afternoon in non-conference women’s lacrosse action. Tufts has now won seven straight games to improve to 8-2 overall this season. With the loss, the Gulls drop to 10-3 overall and 1-3 this season against teams ranked in the top-20.
Endicott jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a score by \#Valerie Feldman\# (Albany, N.Y.), a mere :51 seconds into the opening half. Tufts would answer, however, as the Jumbos rattled off five-straight scores to build a 5-1 lead. Steph Perez (East Providence, R.I.) scored a pair of goals in the run while Kelly Hyland (Acton, Mass.), Lara Kozin (Suffern, N.Y.) and Kerry Eaton (Norfolk, Mass.) added the other three tallies.
\#Holly Davis\# (Guilford, Conn.) ended the run as the freshman picked up a groundball near the EC net and went coast-to-coast to make it a 5-2 game. \#Kristen Micho\# (Syracuse, N.Y.) made it back-to-back goals as the senior came off a screen and received a pass from \#Morgan DeShaw\# (Danville, N.H.) that Micho promptly potted in the back of the net to cut the Tufts lead to two, 5-3. Tufts’ Perez would win the ensuing draw control and come down on attack, finding Casey Egan (Massapequa, N.Y.), who found Jenna Abelli (Framingham, Mass.) for a score that opened the Jumbo lead back to 6-3 heading into the half.
\#Morgan DeShaw\# scored the first goal of the second half on a feed from Feldman but the Jumbos responded with three goals of their own from Kozin, Eaton and Emily Johnson (Yarmouth, Maine). Trailing 9-4, Micho tallied a goal on a pass from DeShaw before \#Molly Sowles\# (Cumberland, Maine) scored on a shot out in front to make it 9-6. Tufts forced a turnover following the draw control and on the fastbreak, Emily Johnson netted her second of the contest to push the Jumbo lead back to four.
The Gulls would go on a 3-0 run of its own as \#Holly Davis\# scored on a cross-field pass from \#Lauren Carelli\# (Hollis, N.H.) followed by \#Lauren Todd\#’s (Newfield, N.H.) open-net score and another Micho tally to make it a 10-9 game. The Jumbos decided to work the clock in their next possession before Sterling Champion dodged her defender and planted the game-deciding goal in the top right corner of the cage. \#Molly Sowles\# would score with :05 seconds remaining but there was not enough time to get off a shot.
The Blue and Green were led by three goals from \#Kristen Micho\# while \#Molly Sowles\# added a pair of scores as well. \#Morgan DeShaw\# had a goal and two assists while \#Holly Davis\# came off the bench to tally two goals and pick up an assist. \#Lauren Todd\# had a goal and game-high seven groundballs while \#Kellie Cunningham\# (Derry, N.H.) had an assist, three groundballs and a team-high five draw controls. \#Leah Neff\# (South Berwick, Maine) suffered the setback despite making 11 saves on 35 shots faced.
Tufts had four players record multiple-goal games including Lara Kozin, Kerry Eaton, Emily Johnson and Steph Perez. Casey Egan added three assists while Perez also contributed a team-high six groundballs and five draw controls. Jenna Abelli scored a goal and had six groundballs in the win. Sara Bloom (Summit, N.J.) picked up the win in net, despite playing only the first half, by made four saves on nine shots faced in the period. Tess Shapanka (Sudbury, Mass.) played the second half, turning away six Endicott shots while giving up seven goals.
After being outshot 19-9 in the first half, Endicott outshot the Jumbos 20-16 in the second half. The Gulls also held an advantage in groundballs (35-32), while also winning five more draw controls (14-9). Tufts, however, was much more efficient on clear attempts as the Jumbos were 13-of-15 compared to 12-of-21 for the Gulls.
Endicott returns to action on Saturday as the Gulls will honor their five seniors as a part of the program’s annual Senior Day when the Blue and Green faceoff with Regis College at 11:00 a.m. Tufts looks to extend its winning streak to eight games when the Jumbos host Connecticut College on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.
