WLAX
Mike Orazzi
11
U. of New England U. OF NE 8-9, 6-6
12
Winner Hartford HARTFORD 12-6, 9-3
U. of New England U. OF NE
8-9, 6-6
11
Final
12
Hartford HARTFORD
12-6, 9-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT F
U. of New England U. OF NE 2 4 2 3 0 11
Hartford HARTFORD 3 2 4 2 1 12

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | | Mady Fitzner

Hartford Women's Lacrosse Wins CNE First Round in Overtime Thriller 12-11

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -  The Hartford women's competed in the first round of the Conference of New England (CNE) tournament this Saturday against #5 University of New England. After a hard fought battle the Hawks defeat UNE 12-11 in overtime thriller.

Rapid Recap:

  • Both teams started off this game with power forcing turnovers all over the field all showing their heart to move forward in this tournament. UNE tallied the opening goal as Emma Collingwood scored in transition to get the first goal on the board. The Hawks were unable to break through the keep for the Nor'easters. That was until senior Sara Costa (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) found the back of the net after sophomore Emily Bussiere (Agawam, Mass.) earned a caused turnover using her strength to push a Nor'easter out of bounds. The Hawks used their first goal to build two more on the board. The Nor'easters answered late capitalizing on a free position attempt to carry a one-point differential into the second.
  • Intensity continued into the second with back-to-back action. Junior Talei Ricketson (Centennial. Colo.) collected the first goal as she used her footwork to beat a few defenders and cushion their lead. In similar first quarter fashion UNE matched the Hawks' goal with one of their own, as the clock ticked down the Nor'easters put up an equalizer with less than six minutes ot go. The Hawks were unable to maintain possession and found themselves in foul trouble with two Hawks sitting penalty box to provide UNE with multiple man-up opportunities. UNE stole back the lead with a man-up goal off of Kylie McKee to take a 6-5 lead over the Hawks.
  • The Nor'easters got the first tally of the third quarter off the stick of Sydney Balotin to bring their lead to two. Costa matched the Nor'easters with a goal of her own capitalizing on a free position goal in the next minute of action. Teams traded goals, exchanging lead changes, sophomore Kate Zonin (North Smithfield, R.I.) closed out the third fighting back for the lead converting on a free position attempt and then picked up a ground ball and found the back of the net bringing the score to 9-8 Hartford.
  • The Hawks determined to move onto the second round opened with two consecutive goals within one minute of each other to bring their lead to now three. The Nor'easters did not give up yet, they pulled off two goals both off of free-position attempts to bring the differential down to one with just seven minutes remaining. In the final possession by Hartford they fell into traps set by UNE and let the clock tick down into a detrimental violation handing the ball over to their opponent. The UNE capitalized with an equalizer off the stick of Sydney Balotin to send the teams into overtime.
  • In extra minutes, the Hawks were determined, Zonin faced three defenders at the top of the arc, she caught the Nor'easters on their heels and drilled the ball into the back of the net to bring the Hawks onto the field and deliver their overtime playoff win on their home turf.

Post Game Press:
"I started off the game trying to see where the face guards were going to be," said sophomore Kate Zonin (North Smithfield, R.I.). " Then in the second half I got the hang of it, I started to get frustrated and everything went up from there."

"This win felt awesome," said junior Mandi Rivard (Vernon, Conn.). "Having our defense work so hard, we are always encouraging one another and it was an amazing feeling."

Inside the Numbers:

  • Junior Mandi Rivard (Vernon, Conn.) was our player of the game in net as she put up an impressive 15 saves to bring home the win, she played all 62 minutes and also picked up three ground balls to maintain possession.
  • Zonin and Costa both shared three goals, Zonin tallied an assist and picked up three ground balls while Costa collected two.
  • Junior Lauren Samela (Cheshire, Conn.) won 14 draw controls this afternoon along with four ground balls and one assist.

Up Next:
The Hawks will now advance to the CNE semi-finals to face #1 Endicott College this upcoming Wednesday, April 29th at 4:00 P.M.

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