Endicott opens 2011 title defense with victory over Anna Maria

Boxscore  |  Video Highlights

Beverly, Mass. – Last year’s TCCC Champions began their 2011 campaign on Thursday evening as the Endicott women’s lacrosse team defeated conference opponent Anna Maria College 20-0 behind a six-point effort from junior attacker Morgan DeShaw (Danville, N.H.).

DeShaw helped the Gulls take control of the game within the first 33 seconds of the game, scoring the opening tally on an unassisted play past AMCATS goalie Lourdes Pena (Lawrence, Mass.). DeShaw, one of three captains on the team, would tally four times in the game including back-to-back-to-back goals to help put the Blue and Green up 5-0 7:40 into the first half. Her second goal was unassisted but her third and fourth saw lead passes from sophomore Holly Davis (Guilford, Conn.) and Lauren Todd (Newfields, N.H.) go for assists. 

Fellow captain and senior attacker Molly Sowles (Yarmouth, Maine) had her hand in five different goals, scoring a hat trick and assisting on two more tallies. With 19:20 on the clock in the first half, Sowles found the back of the net with an assist to senior Carin Czerniawski (Monroe, Conn.) before assisting on goals by Holly Davis and attacker Brooke Neuman (Stamford, Conn.) near the end of the opening frame. 

Sowles would then open up the second half with back-to-back goals just under a minute apart at 24:14 and 23:16 to complete the hat trick. Holly Davis assisted on the first goal of the half for her second assist of the game. 

The Gulls did well creating turnovers (19) and scooping up loose groundballs (23). Freshman defender Kelsey Barnes (Brookside, N.J.) totaled seven groundballs to lead the Gulls and for Anna Maria, senior Crystal Torres (Southbridge, Mass.) and sophomore Sandy Acosta (Lawrence, Mass.) each had two. On draw controls, the Blue and Green also held the advantage by taking 14 out of 22 attempts. Holly Davis snatched five of those while senior midfielder Kellie Cunningham (Derry, N.H.) grabbed three. Cunningham also forced three turnovers in the game. 

Anna Maria appeared poised to score their first goal of the game with 8:12 remaining in the first half after junior midfielder Katie Schebel (Ludlow, Mass.) fired a shot from the top of the circle. Endicott’s junior goalie Leah Neff (South Berwick, Maine), who played in every game in 2010, made the save to keep the AMCATS off the scoreboard.  Neff would later make another save, this time after a shot attempt by Amelia Richard (Mashpee, Mass.).

Neff earned the victory, improving to 1-0. Freshman goalie Rachel Socolow (Westford, Mass.) played the second half and made two saves in 30 minutes of play. 

The Gulls saw multiple goals scored by Sowles, Davis, DeShaw, Neuman, Kelly Tierney (South Hadley, Mass.), Meaghann Mellen (Londonderry, N.H.), and Gabrielle Boyle (Hingham, Mass.). Cunningham, Czerniawski, and Callie Murphy (Woburn, Mass.) also chipped in with goals. 

Endicott will next travel to non-conference opponent Bowdoin College on March 15^th for a 1:00 pm game. Anna Maria visits Lasell College on March 16^th for a 4:00 pm start time.