BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's lacrosse team took their programs ninth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title this afternoon over Roger Williams. Junior Siri Mason (Williamstown, Mass.) found the back of the net as time expired to secure the 14-13 triumph. With the victory the Gulls have now earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament which begins on May 7th. The selection show will be aired tomorrow night, Sunday, May 4th at 9:30 p.m.
The entire 60 minutes of play was a battle as both sides went goal for goal ending in a tie by halftime and having no more than a two goal difference in the second half. Senior Co-Offensive Player of the Year tallied eight points in the contest with both four goals and four assists while junior Kirsten Thor (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Rookie of the Year Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) each posted three goals apiece.
Murphy controlled the draws for the Blue and Green leading with five while three different Gulls posted three caused turnovers which led the Gulls to post 14 caused turnovers to the Hawks three.
Roger Williams started the scoring in the first half in the opening minute as freshman McKenna Pingree (Georgetown, Mass.) found the back of the net. The Gulls answered back with four straight goals. Whitney posted two while Murphy and Thor followed suit to give the Gulls a 4-1 edge. The four straight goals were highlighted by an amazing play by Thor who caused a turnover at the Hawks 40 and made a deep pass to Murphy who was able to slip the ball past freshman goalkeeper Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.).
Roger Williams finally answered back at 18:05 on an unassisted play by junior Deven Machette (Norwalk, Conn.). Junior Ellie Clayman bumped the lead back up to three as she found the back of the net for her first of the game. The Hawks would not let the lead increase anymore as they tallied three straight goals to make it a tie game by the 7:43 mark. Both sides posted two more goals each before the end of the half to move into the second at a stalemate, 7-7.
The second half was a battle both on the scoreboard and on the field. Roger Williams opened up the half with two straight goals for a two goal lead. Freshman Meghan Lennon (Canton, Mass.) got the Blue and Green back within reach at the 24:07 mark to make it a 9-8 score. The Hawks, senior Jessica Searl (Glastonbury, Conn.) slipped the ball past senior goalkeeper Ryan Socolow (Westford, Mass.) to tie the game back up but Endicott answered back with three straight goals to take a one goal lead, led by Murphy with two on free position shots.
With two minutes remaining in the game the Hawks took a one goal lead off a solid shot by Everding. When it looked like the Hawks may have ended the streak for the Blue and Green Murphy and Lennon made a crisp and quick combo play in front of the goal to tie up the game with 19 seconds remaining on the clock.
With their energies high as time was ticking down, Murphy dumped the ball to Mason in front of the net who was able to get a shot off and beat Bolk at the buzzer to leave the Gulls victorious for the ninth straight time in the CCC Championship game.
Endicott will wait until tomorrow night to see where they stand in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Last season Endicott hosted Springfield in the First Round where they ousted the Pride 4-3 to clinch the programs first NCAA victory. Endicott then played into national powerhouse Middlebury in the second round, falling 13-4.
