CCC RELEASE | INTERACTIVE BRACKET
BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 1 seed Endicott women's lacrosse team celebrated winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship with a 14-3 decisive victory over No. 2 Roger Williams University Saturday afternoon at a rain-soaked Hempstead Stadium in a rematch of last season's title game.
With the win, the Gulls capped off a perfect season against conference foes (10-0) to claim their 10th conference crown in program history and first under third-year head coach Morgan Maciewicz (2017 CCC Coach of the Year).
A change of venue this go around was all the Gulls needed as sophomore midfielder Olivia Larson's (Cheshire, Conn.) free-position goal with 27:10 to go in the opening stanza got Endicott fired up from the start to give the Gulls an early 1-0 lead.
Roger Williams cut the deficit to 2-1 on the first of Kaelin Hogan's (Bethel, Conn.) team-leading two strikes of the day at the 22:39 mark, and that's as close as the Hawks would get the rest of the way.
Endicott dominated on the draw (15-4), giving the Gulls the opportunity to possess the ball longer and be lethal on the attack.
Six straight goals from Endicott to close out the first half (up 10-2) and three more tallies to begin the second half turned a narrow 4-2 edge into a 13-2 cushion and the Gulls never looked back as a running clock helped speed up the process of getting to storm the field in celebration.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott leads the all-time series, 20-4 (14-1 at home) against Roger Williams.
- Endicott is now 5-1 all-time in the CCC Championship against the Hawks.
- Sophomore goalie Bella Rino (Northborough, Mass.) improved to 10-1 in goal as she made eight saves and allowed three or fewer goals for the fourth time this season while earning the start.
- Senior midfielder Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) scored three goals to go along with a game-high assiststo match her career-high for a game-best seven points for her third game this season racking up a seven-spot.
- Senior attack Meghan Lennon's (Canton, Mass.) six points on three goals and three assists brings her season total to 82 points, which ranks her 10th in program history for most points in a single season as she is now just three goals away from the coveted 100th career goal milestone.
- Freshman attack Meghan Dutchyshyn (Cheshire, Conn.) also scored a hat trick today for the eighth time in her rookie campaign notching at least three goals in a game.
- The Gulls made their 13th appearance in the conference title game after having qualified for the conference tournament each in the past 14 consecutive years, and 18 of the 22 years since Endicott became NCAA Division III varsity program in 1996.
- The Gulls won nine straight conference championships from 2006-2014 and returned to the CCC Championship game last year after having its streak of 10-straight title game appearances halted in 2015. However, their quest for raising a banner came up short as they fell to Roger Williams, 16-7, in Bristol, R.I. for the Hawks' first-ever women's lacrosse title in 2016.
FOR THE FOES
- The Hawks are 1-6 in the CCC Championship dating back to the 2003 season.
- Senior goalkeeper Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) stopped seven shots, but dropped to 9-2 on the season in goal.
- Hogan led the Hawks offensively with two goals and one assist.
- Sophomore midfielder Emily Stoeppel (Brookfield, Conn.) caused a game-high three turnovers and scooped up a game-best four ground balls.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 1 Endicott (14-4) received the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse Championship. The NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Selection Show is slated for Sunday, May 7th at 9:30 p.m. (EST) Watch live here.
No. 2 Roger Williams (13-4) likely saw its season come to an end, unless the Hawks get an at-large selection. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo Credit — Parker Fish )
