WLAX Drops Regular Season Finale to SVC

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's lacrosse team wrapped up the regular season with a 20-8 loss to Southern Vermont College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.

Both teams have qualified for the NECC Championship, which begins with first round games on Tuesday, May 1. A complete bracket with seeding, match-ups and game times will be released by the conference later today.

Alex Safford led all scorers with five goals and an assist to pace the SVC offense. Natalie Rose Canterbury added four goals while Abigail Landon and Aubrey Vierstra each recorded hat tricks. Francesca Pinard led Mitchell with three goals while Rachel Barda and Lindsey Fairbank chipped in two apiece.

The Mountaineers (6-8 overall, 5-2 NECC) tallied the first four goals of the game en route to an 11-3 advantage by halftime. Canterbury netted a hat trick in the stanza while Landon added a pair of scores.

Safford took over the heavy lifting in the second half, scoring Southern Vermont's first three goals of the period. The first came off a feed from Stephany Ferreira and the second from Paige Vitale. After a goal by Fairbank made the score 13-4, Safford potted her third on an unassisted effort.

Barda responded with a pair of goals in a three-minute stretch to bring the Mariners to within eight at 14-6. However, the Mountaineers got two goals from Vierstra and one each from Landon, Safford and Canterbury in the final 16:33 to seal the win.

Kelsey Carrera made eight saves in goal for SVC before turning things over to Kristiana Goldup for the final 13:45. Gillian MacLellan finished with 20 stops in the cage for Mitchell (4-8 overall, 3-4 NECC).

Callie Santo Salvo also found the back of the net for the first time this season for the Mariners.