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2003 NEWMAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT - Wheaton captures first ever NEWMAC championship
NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team took an early 3-0 lead in the opening 12 minutes of play Monday and never looked back, as the Lyons captured their first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship with a 10-7 victory over Springfield College at Keefe Field. Wheaton avenged last year's conference championship game loss to the Pride and in the process will advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1986. Junior Lauren Maynes (Woodstock, VT/Woodstock Union) triggered Wheaton's offensive attack with the game's first two scores. Sophomore Vanessa Pisano (Vineyard Haven, MA/Martha's Vineyard), who finished the contest with three goals and two assists, set up Maynes' second score six minutes into the game. Sophomore Caddie Jackson (Deerfield, MA/Deerfield Academy) added a free position goal at the twelve-minute mark to extend the Lyon advantage to 3-0. Springfield slowly cut into the deficit, as freshman attack Holly Carmody (Wayland, MA/Wayland) tallied two of the Pride's goals in the half. The visitors got as close as 4-3 with just under three minutes remaining in the stanza, but Pisano posted an unassisted goal with 12 ticks on the clock to give Wheaton a small cushion heading into the break. Sophomore goalie A.J. Vasiliou (Middletown, CT/Mercy) kept the Pride at bay, stopping an impressive 12 Springfield shots in the stanza. In the second half, the Pride again trimmed their deficit to a single goal, as first-year Erin Looney (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield) found junior Brooke Newman (Coram, NY/Longwood) right in front of the net just three minutes into the period. Newman collected the high pass and directed her shot into the bottom left corner of the net just under the stick of Vasiliou. That's as close as Springfield would get, as the Lyons put together a string of three consecutive goals to put the game away. Maynes, Pisano and freshman Julia Coit (South Portland, ME/South Portland) all scored during that spurt. The Pride's Victoria Valenti (Higganum, CT/Mercy) came back to tally two straight goals and cut the margin to 8-6, but Maynes responded with two consecutive scores of her own to push the lead back to four goals. Maynes finished the day with five goals, while Vasiliou continued to shine in net with 17 saves. Carmody and Valenti led Springfield with two goals each, while Newman contributed a goal and an assist in the loss. Senior goalie Emily Boosahda (Bass River, MA/Bishop Stang) posted eight saves for Springfield. 2003 NEWMAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT SCORING 1st 2nd FINAL Cumulative Scoring: Assists: WC- Pisano 2, Jackson, Claudia Guerrero; SC- Newman, Erin Looney, Spring Silverman Goalkeeper Saves: WC- A.J. Vasiliou 17; SC- Emily Boosahda 8 Shots: WC- 22; SC- 25 |