Williams women’s lacrosse beat rival Wesleyan 17-9
WILLLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams women’s lacrosse (8-4, 4-4 NESCAC) recovered from a slow start to beat NESCAC and Little Three rival Wesleyan (5-8, 2-6 NESCAC) 17-9. This win means Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan tie for the 2009 Little Three Title.Wesleyan dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, largely based on their successful draw controls. Charlotte Hastings and Laura Sticklor both scored unassisted goals for the Cardinals before Ephs junior Tina Nawrocki capitalized on a pass from freshman Margie Fulton to put Williams on the board. After a period of settled Wesleyan offense, the Cardinal scored two more goals to give Wesleyan a 4-1 advantage.
Fulton broke through the Wesleyan defense and scored two goals at 15:21 and 13:38 which began to build momentum for the Ephs. Wesleyan’s Maggie Lile put one in the net, but senior Britt Spackman scored on a free position attempt at 7:35 to bring the Ephs within one.
Spackman converted a pass from junior Tracey Ferriter at 6:04 to tie the game. Ferriter then netted one of her own at 4:56 to give the Ephs the lead for the first time. The half ended with a 6-5 advantage to the Ephs.
Williams came out strong in the second half, capitalizing on the momentum they built at the end of the first half. Fulton, Spackman, and Tina Nawrocki scored the first three goals of the half to give the Ephs a four-goal lead. Wesleyan’s Charlotte Hastings broke through the Ephs defense to score at 22:14, before Fulton answered with one of her own for Williams.
Wesleyan’s Clare Smith scored at 20:56, but Williams then went on another three goals scoring streak. Sarah Orkin scored for the Cardinals at 13:41 before Williams started a stall. Williams scored another three goals before Wesleyan’s Smith was able to break the Ephs stall and score the Cardinals last goal of the game. Spackman rounded out the game’s points at 2:30. The Ephs successfully stalled for the remainder of the game to win 17-9.
Margie Fulton lead the Ephs in points with four goals and four assists, followed by Britt Spackman with five goals and Tina Nawrocki with three goals and two assists.
Williams sophomore goaltender Julia Schreiber made 10 saves, while Wesleyan’s Abby Sedney stopped 6 and Maggie Drowica turned 1 aside.
Williams head coach Chris Mason noted that the Ephs got off to a slow start but was pleased with the team’s turn around. “We played the first quarter of the game in our defensive end. Our defense did a great job holding them, but we did not capitalize on the turnovers the D created. When we started winning draw controls and transitioning successfully, we scored every time.”
Mason also noted that her team played well together: “It really was a team effort on both offense and defense today.” Senior Lizzie Burns was an asset on defense, while both Spackman and Ferriter played well in both directions.
Williams’ next game is at Springfield Wednesday April 21st at 7 pm.
