April 26, 2007

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s women’s lacrosse team scored seven goals in the final 11:11 of the game, but visiting Worcester State held on for a 15-13 victory in a non-conference game at Cressy Field Thursday afternoon.

The Corsairs trailed, 8-2, at halftime, and 13-6 with 11:43 remaining. But junior midfielder Marie Spang (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS) scored her first of four goals to ignite the comeback. Kim Cosenza scored on a free-position shot with 9:55 to play, but freshman midfielder Gillian Carey (Waltham, MA/Waltham HS) and senior attacker Susie Nearhoof (Frederick, MD/Governor Johnson HS/Frederick CC) each scored to make it 14-9 with 5:50 remaining. Ann Clark scored with 4:30 to play to restore the Lancers’ six-goal advantage. Senior defender Jill Howard (Easton, MA/Oliver Ames HS) scored with 3:31 left, and Spang scored three times in the final 2:41, but UMass Dartmouth could get no closer and time expired. 

Carey finished with five goals to lead the Corsairs, Howard scored twice, and senior attacker Katelyn Elliott (Lowell, MA/Lowell HS) scored the other UMass Dartmouth goal. Carey had four assists, Elliott added three, and Spang had a pair. Clark led WSC with five goals, Shannon Feeley added four, and Megan Rosborough and Kim Cosenza each scored twice.

“We were shaky on defense at the start of the game, and that really hurt us,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jerry Jennings. “We made a great comeback, but we couldn’t catch them, and we ran out of time at the end. I really admired the way we came back late in the game, but we just got too far behind.” 

Worcester State out shot the Corsairs, 44-32. Juniors Erin Doherty (West Newbury, MA/Pentucket HS) and Lauren Barber (Andover, MA/Andover HS/Saint Anselm) combined to make 21 saves for UMass Dartmouth, while Lyndsey Nunes made 13 for the Lancers.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 4-8 with the defeat, while WSC improved to 10-3 with the victory. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Western Connecticut State in their final regular season contest Saturday afternoon, while the Lancers will play Castleton State in the semi-final round of the conference playoffs Saturday.

Box Score