WLAX Drops Final NECC Contest at SVC

BENNINGTON, Vt. – After a well-contested start to the game, Southern Vermont College pulled away to defeat Mitchell College, 25-10, Thursday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's lacrosse action at Everett Field.

SVC (7-5 overall, 5-2 NECC) was up by a minor 4-3 margin following the first five minutes of action, but the hosting Mountaineers then scored seven straight to go into the halftime break ahead 17-6. Southern Vermont found the back of the net another handful of times in the second period to keep the clock running and capture the sizeable league victory.

Lauren Nesshoever racked up a team-best eight goals for SVC—her last being her 100th career score as a Mountaineer. She also had seven draw controls, four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in the win. Emily Lesure notched five goals, three assists and seven ground balls while Mel Orrell had a goal and five assists along with five ground balls, three caused turnovers and a game-best 10 draw controls.

Ashley Murtha continued her nation-leading offensive performance by potting a game-best nine goals while adding a team-high nine draw controls and four ground balls. Willeen Pun notched a goal in the effort and goalie Gillian MacLellan pulled in a team-best six ground balls.

Southern Vermont keeper Sydnee Julian made three saves in the win (2-0) while MacLellan turned away 18 Mountaineer shots in the loss (3-6).

Playing with only 10 Mariners on the field throughout the day, the visitors grabbed the early advantage when Murtha won the opening draw control and took it the distance before slinging home her first of the day. Nesshoever came back with one of her own before Sofia Sorriento put home back-to-back goals in 22 seconds of clock time for the 3-1 Mountaineer lead.

Scores were traded as Pun made it a 4-3 edge for the hosts with 25:39 left in the opening stanza. That's when Southern Vermont really got things going as Stephany Ferreira fed Lesure before Orrell set up Nesshoever for the three-goal difference. Aubrey Vierstra got one to go before Orrell assisted Paige Vitale at the 21:24 mark.

Ferreira beat the keeper once again, and Nesshoever then scored consecutive tallies to set the score at 11-3. Murtha ended the SVC run to get the hat trick, but Nesshoever answered before Natalie Rose Canterbury sent one into the back of the cage. Goals went back and forth through the remainder of the half with Vitale assisting Vierstra's sixth of the year to help the Mountaineers take a 17-6 upper hand to the intermission.

Once play resumed, Orrell won the first draw control of the second half and fed Ferreira for the sophomore's eighth of the year. Back-to-back Lesure scores saw a Murtha response at the other end, but Vierstra came back to notch her first career hat trick off an Orrell dish. Nesshoever registered her eighth of the game and 100th career goal at the 12:39 mark, and Canterbury then added her sixth of the season for the 15-goal separation.

Murtha scored two more times in the remainder of the match—the second of which was her 83rd of the year. Those sandwiched Vierstra's eighth of 2017 before SVC ran out the clock to tie its top NECC wins mark of five.

Mitchell (3-7 overall, 2-6 NECC) wraps up the regular season campaign on Saturday with a 12 p.m. non-conference contest at SUNY Purchase.