Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College women’s lacrosse team defeated Roger Williams University, 10-4, to grab its fifth consecutive The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. With the win, the Gulls (16-4) have earned the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. Roger Williams (14-5) hopes to grab a bid into the upcoming ECAC Tournament.

Roger Williams broke open a scoreless game at the 22:30 mark in the first half when Kate Malenczak (Sayville, N.Y.) gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead on a free position shot. Eventually, Endicott’s \#Kellie Cunningham\# (Derry, N.H.) knotted the game at one goal apiece as the junior dodged through the middle and buried a shot in the top right corner.

The Hawks took their second lead of the game as Claire Halliday (Trenton, N.J.) scored on a Malenczak feed on the fast break for a 2-1 lead. The Gulls responded a mere :13 seconds later as \#Valerie Feldman\# (Albany, N.Y.) entered into the scoring column with her free position tally to tie the game at 2-2. Endicott took its first lead of the game when \#Kristen Micho\# (Syracuse, N.Y.) intercepted a lazy Roger Williams pass and stick-faked the RWU netminder before scoring on the open net.

The back-and-forth first half continued when Malenczak scored her second goal of the game on a pass from Kasey Beckwith (Franklin, Conn.) to tie the game at 3-3. \#Morgan DeShaw\# (Danville, N.H.) gave EC the lead for good with 6:13 remaining in the opening half on a free position goal to put the Gulls on top, 4-3, headed into the break.

Cunningham and Feldman opened the second stanza with back-to-back unassisted scores to push the Endicott lead up to 6-3. Malenczack notched her third goal of the game, on a free position shot, to make it a 6-4 ballgame, but that would be as close as the Hawks would get. \#Valerie Feldman\# scored her third goal of the game with 13:49 remaining before senior \#Kristen Micho\# scored three-straight goals to end the game and give Endicott a 10-4 win and its fifth-straight TCCC Championship.

Endicott outshot the Hawks at a 26-8 clip while also holding the edge in groundballs (38-28) and draw controls (11-5). The Gulls were also better on clear attempts, 10-of-12 compared to 11-of-24 for RWU, while Roger Williams made more turnovers (19-12) but held the advantage in saves (10-1).

\#Kristen Micho\# led all scorers with four goals while causing a pair of turnovers and picking up two groundballs. \#Valerie Feldman\# scored three goals and had a team-high four groundballs while \#Kellie Cunningham\# also scored a pair of goals. \#Kendahl Light\# (South Hero, Vt.) led the defense with four caused turnovers while \#Morgan DeShaw\# and \#Carin Czerniawski\# (Monroe, Conn.) each picked up five groundballs apiece. \#Leah Neff\# (South Berwick, Maine) made one save in picking up the victory.

Roger Williams was led by Kate Malenczak’s three goals and one assist while Claire Halliday had the other tally for the Hawks. Erica Palmer (Branford, Conn.) scooped up a team-high five groundballs and had four caused turnovers while Danica Delia (Norwalk, Conn.) had a pair of draw controls. Lauren Ferri (Northport, N.Y.) also added four caused turnovers. Amanda Magee (Columbus, N.J.) made 10 saves on 26 shots faced.

Endicott now advances to its fifth-straight NCAA appearance and awaits word on who they will play in the first round later this week. Roger Williams hopes to hear about an ECAC Tournament bid, with action also beginning later this week.