Upset bid comes up short, #6 Tufts downs Endicott
April 16, 2009
MEDFORD, Mass. - The Endicott College women's lacrosse team had an upset on their mind against the sixth-ranked Tufts University but suffered a hard fought defeat, 10-8, on Thursday afternoon in Medford, Mass. The Gulls drop to 10-3 overall with the non-conference setback while the Jumbos improve to 11-1 on the season.
Senior Maya Shoham (West Hartford, Conn.) continued her productive play with three goals and an assist, while classmate Courtney Thomas (Needham, Mass.) scored once and assisted on four others for Tufts.
Endicott received 15 saves in a strong goaltending performance by senior Molly Hamel (North Yarmouth, Maine). Gulls junior Valerie Feldman (Albany, N.Y.) led all scorers with six points on three goals and three assists.
Tufts jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and looked like they would win another non-conference game easily. The Jumbos entered the game having out-scored four previous non-NESCAC foes 77-31. However, Endicott fired back by scoring the next three goals, two by Feldman, to tie the score at 3-3 with 15 minutes to play in the first half. Shoham and Endicott senior Sara Gunter (Kennebunk, Maine) traded goals to keep it tied, but Thomas tallied at 2:39 to give Tufts the 5-4 lead at intermission.
The Jumbos built some breathing room by scoring four of the first five goals in the second half, including two by sophomore Amanda Roberts (Wenham, Mass.) as Tufts led 9-5 with 12:57 remaining. Senior Alex Pearce (Underhill, Vt.) scored her second goal of the half for the Gulls at 8:15 and Tufts senior co-captain Chrissie Attura (Yarmouth, Maine) fired a shot into the top right corner at 3:33 making it 10-6.
Endicott made it interesting at the end as freshman Morgan DeShaw (Danville, N.H.) scored on a free-position shot at 3:01. The Gulls then controlled the draw and scored again after Tufts was whistled for a yellow card at 2:38, with Feldman netting her third. With Tufts down a player for the remainder of regulation, junior Jenna Abelli (Framingham, Mass.) won the ensuing draw and the Jumbos superbly played keep-away to run out the remainder of the time in the Endicott end.
Tufts finished with a wide 36-16 advantage in shots. They were just one for nine on free-position attempts, with Hamel stopping most of them. The draw control and ground ball final stats narrowly favored Tufts, 23-19 and 11-9, respectively. Roberts controlled four draws and Thomas scooped up six ground balls, along with causing three turnovers.
Gunter finished with three ground balls for Endicott, while senior Katie Leighton (Saco, Maine) had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Endicott travels to Babson College for another non-conference matchup on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Jumbos play at Connecticut College in a NESCAC contest on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.