MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Clean Harbors Stadium, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

FINAL:                   MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 9, WHEELOCK 8

                                                               1              2                              Total

Wheelock (0-4)                                       3              5              -                  8

Massachusetts Maritime (1-4)                8              1              -                  9

SCORING SUMMARY

WHL GOALS:       Katie Gavin (2), Emma Marrs (2), Molly Centore, Despina Savvoulides,

Anna Shuqom, Kaitlyn Donnelly

WHL ASSISTS:    Centore, Gavin, Marrs

MMA GOALS:       Molly Smith (4), Shavonne Boyle (3), Kim Courcy       MMA ASSISTS:    Boyle (3)

GOALIE SAVES

WHL:      Monica Bettle—9

MMA:      Deb Langley—12

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Freshman Molly Smith (Westwood, Mass.) netted four goals, while fellow freshman Shavonne Boyle (Doylestown, Pa.) added a hat trick and three assists for six points as Massachusetts Maritime held off a late charge in the final seven minutes of play to post a 9-8 non-league college women’s lacrosse victory over Wheelock Tuesday evening at Clean Harbors Stadium.

The host Buccaneers (1-4) presented Head Coach Leslie Bullis with her first career triumph by jumping out early in the contest, as goals by Boyle and senior Kim Courcy (Warwick, R.I.) staked Massachusetts Maritime to a 2-0 lead just 3:21 into play.  After sophomore Emma Marrs (Old Lyme, Conn.) sliced the visiting Wildcats’ (0-4) deficit in half just 54 seconds later, Smith sparked a four-goal Buccaneer run over a 6:41 stretch, as she collected three goals along the way to extend the hosts’ advantage to 6-1 with 16:28 to play in the half.  Wheelock received markers from Marrs and sophomore Molly Centore (Kennebunk, Maine) to close back to within three at 6-3 with 10:25 remaining in the half, but Boyle and Courcy struck again in the final 6:49 of action to extend Massachusetts Maritime’s edge to 8-3 at the break.

Smith completed the Buccaneer scoring just 3:08 after intermission with what provide to be the game-winner on a free position conversion, as the Wildcats shut the hosts down from that point on.  Junior Katie Gavin (Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass.) netted two of Wheelock’s five goals in the final 22-plus minutes of play, as her second marker with 3:27 remaining enabled the visitors to close back to within one, but Massachusetts Maritime won the ensuing draw and overcame a pair of turnovers to run out the clock and present Bullis with her inaugural victory.

Gavin and Marrs each finished with two goals and an assist for three points in the setback for Wheelock, which also received a marker and helper from Centore as well as single goals off the sticks of senior Despina Savvoulides (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshmen Anna Shuqom (Brookline, Mass.) and Kaitlyn Donnelly (Atkinson, N.H.).  Sophomore Deb Langley (Abington, Mass.) picked up her first career victory in goal with a 12-save effort on the night for Massachusetts Maritime, while junior Monica Bettle (Pembroke, Mass.) made nine stops in the setback for Wheelock as the Buccaneers outshot the Wildcats by a 26-24 margin for the match while holding a 14-5 edge in draw controls.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Framingham State in its Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium beginning at Noon, while Wheelock heads to North Dartmouth, Mass. on Thursday afternoon to take on UMass Dartmouth in a non-league match that begins at 4:00 p.m.