Hamel leads Gulls past Wellesley
April 1, 2009
WELLESLEY, Mass. - Strong play between the pipes from goalkeeper Molly Hamel (North Yarmouth, Maine) led visiting Endicott College to a 17-8 win over Wellesley College in non-conference women's lacrosse action on a chilly Wednesday afternoon. The win improves the Gulls to 6-2 (3-0 TCCC) on the season, while the Blue fall to 3-4.
Endicott quickly built a substantial lead, taking a 5-0 advantage over the Blue after just over eight minutes of lacrosse. Alex Pearce (Underhill, Vt.) netted a pair of goals for the Gulls while Morgan DeShaw (Danville, N.H.), Carin Czerniawski (Monroe, Conn.), and Rebecca Bushnell (Cuilford, Conn.) each added a tally in the opening minutes.
Wellesley got on the board with 20 minutes left in the first half, on a goal from Jenny Holland (Bethesda, Md.) that was assisted by Meredith Roy (Merrimack, N.H.).
After Holland's score, Endicott fired back with four unanswered goals to increase their lead to 8-1. During the run, Czerniawski, Bushnell and DeShaw each scored their second goals of the afternoon, while Valerie Feldman (Albany, N.Y.) dented the goal column for the first time in the game.
With 11:21 to play in the half, the Blue's Molly Morrow (Bow, N.H.) scored on her own rebound to make it 9-2. However, Feldman, Pearce and Kristen Micho (Syracuse, N.Y.) each scored for Endicott to give the Gulls a 12-2 lead at the break.
Hamel made seven first-half saves for Endicott, who held a 16-11 advantage in shots after 30 minutes of play.
The teams traded goals to open up the second half, with DeShaw netting her third of the game for the Gulls and Caitlin Meeker (Columbia, Md.) converting a free position shot for the Blue to set the score to 13-3, still in favor of Endicott. After a Bushnell score at 21:40 made it 14-3, Wellesley's Holland scored twice in a row to narrow the Endicott lead to 14-5 with 15:40 to play.
A late second-half push by Wellesley saw the Blue score five of the final eight goals of the game, but Endicott's early lead was too much, and the Gulls took the game, 17-8.
Endicott's Hamel was the story of the game as the senior made 11 saves for the Gulls in just 44 minutes of work. Despite Endicott holding only a 24-20 advantage in shots, Hamel was the difference maker, stopping seven of Wellesley's 11 first-half attempts and allowing only five total Wellesley goals. Also on the defensive side, Molly Moss (Yarmouth, Maine) and DeShaw each recorded three ground balls, while DeShaw and Sara Gunter (Kennebunk, Maine) each controlled three draws.
Offensively for the Gulls, Pearce led the way with four scores while Bushnell and DeShaw each added three. Czerniawski racked up five points on two goals and three assists while Kate Colley (Wells, Maine) added two goals and an assist for three points.
For Wellesley, Holland finished with five goals while Morrow recorded four points on a goal and three assists. Roy rounded out the offense with a goal and two assists. Defensively, Loretta White (Northampton, Mass.) and Kate Cushing (Danvers, Mass.) each had four draw controls while Mary Mattia (Atlanta, Ga.) made six saves in goal for the Blue.
Endicott returns to the field on Saturday at 1:00pm playing a road game at Western New England College. Wellesley is also in action on Saturday, playing a 1:00pm NEWMAC game at Smith College.