Lacrosse drops season finale to Salem State
The MCLA Women's Lacrosse team dropped the season finale to Salem State this evening 14-5
Courtesy of Salem State Sports Information
Salem, Mass. -- Kelsey Russell's (Arlington, MA) six-point (3g, 3a) night helped the Vikings of Salem State cruise to a 14-5 win over the Trailblazers of MCLA. The victory puts the Vikings at 2-5 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and 7-8 on the season. MCLA falls to 0-7 in the conference while dropping to 4-9 on the year.
Salem State honored Russell, Tara Carnevale (Beverly, MA), Kristina Ventura (Billerica, MA), Elizabeth Kozak (Milton, MA), Rachel Clasby (Northbridge, MA) and Kara DiBenedetto (Boxford, MA) before the start of the game for senior night.
The match also marked the final ones for MCLA's Rebecca Pike, Kaleigh Anderson, Erin Ferris, and Leah Sullivan.
The Vikings dominated early on in the first half as Russell sparked a seven-goal run in the first ten seconds of the match. Russell netted two goals during that stretch as Ventura, Katie Hart (Beverly, MA), Kozak, and Erin Riley (Wakefield, MA) each added one. MCLA got one back at the 12:35 mark as Rebecca Pike (Troy, NY) finished a Natalie Caney (Belchertown, MA) pass just outside the crease. Kozak added one more goal before the half as the Vikings entered the second half leading 8-1.
After a Ventura goal in the opening minutes of the second half, the Trailblazers quickly added two goals coming from Caney and Pike to cut the deficit to 9-3. Later in the half, Pike added another goal for MCLA to bring the score to 10-4, but that would quickly be erased as the Vikings offense tallied four goals in a row to gain a 14-4 advantage with 4:00 remaining in the game. Pike added one more goal for MCLA but it wouldn't be enough as Salem State held off to win, 14-5.
Ventura ended the night with five points on three goals and two assists while Pike led the Trailblazers with four goals.
Chyenne Jackson (Peabody, MA) saved five shots as she earned the win in net for Salem State. Alexandra David (Lowell, MA) made 12 saves but drew the loss as she allowed all 14 Vikings' goals.