Alex Berman Photography
Alex Berman Photography

Springfield Downs Blue Lacrosse in NEWMAC Opener

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Springfield College jumper out to an early 3-0 advantage and never trailed en route to a 10-5 victory over Wellesley College lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon at the Wellesley Outdoor Fields Complex. Wellesley dips to 3-1 and 0-1 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with its first setback of the 2015 season. The Pride improve to 7-2 (1-0 NEWMAC) following the conference opener for both teams.  

Senior Michelle Dorsey recorded a hat-trick to lead the way for the Pride, who have won their last three games in-a-row. Dorsey, who now has a team-leading 27 goals on the season, also recorded a team-high three draw controls. Bianca Raniolo also added a pair of goals and an assist for the Pride as both she and Dorsey finished with four shots in the contest.  

Sophomore Courtney Peterson scored two goals and added an assist and collected a pair of ground balls for Wellesley. Senior Claire Canty added a goal and two assists, bring her team-leading assist total to 12 on the season. Canty also collected a game-high four draw controls. Senior Meghan Peterson and first year Jenny Gubner also added goals for the Blue, while junior Caitlin Crawford tied with goalkeeper Wendy Nettleton with a team-high four ground balls. 

Olivia Cabral, Bianca Raniolo and Heather Raniolo all scored inside the opening six minutes of the contest to push the Pride to a 3-0 advantage. The Blue got one back at 18:47 of the first thanks to a goal from Meghan Peterson on an assist from Courtney Peterson. 

 Springfield responded with another string of three goals, as Shelby Corsano scored her only marker of the game at 14:31 before Dorsey found the back of the net at both 12:02 and 9:01 to push the Pride to a 6-1 lead. Canty then added a goal on a free position shot at 3:03 to send the game into the half with Springfield leading 6-2.  

The Pride opened the second period of play just as they opened the first, scoring three straight goals to pull ahead by a commanding 9-2 margin. Kerstin Lindrooth fired home her 18th goal of the season at 25:08 before Kayla Shroeher and Bianca Raniolo scored at 23:34 and 15:53, both on assists from Colleen Keeley.

The Blue closed the game by scoring three of the final four goals. Courtney Peterson added both of her goals on either side of Dorsey's hat-trick goal, scoring at 12:38 and 10:27 of the second. Gubner then added the final tally of the game with 4:58 left, taking advantage of a free position shot to score the seventh goal of her rookie season. 

Wellesley will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when when they will host Endicott at 12 noon in a non-conference matchup. Springfield will play at MIT in a NEWMAC contest on Saturday at 1:00 PM.