Colby women’s lacrosse defeated the Ephs 12-10 in the finals of NESCAC tournament
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Colby opened the game with two quick goal before junior Tracey Ferriter put the Ephs on the board with an unassisted point at 23:28. The Mules responded with two more goals to give Colby a 4-1 advantage. Freshman Margie Fulton scored off a pass from senior Britt Spackman at 14:42, but Colby’s Amy Campbell answered with a goal of he own only eight seconds later.
Williams dominated the last ten minutes of the first half, scoring six goals to Colby’s one. Spackman and senior Julia Nawrocki both scored, and junior Whitney Thayer tallied three goals of her own in less than five minutes. Junior Alice Nelson capitalized on a free position shot with :06 seconds left in the half, giving the Ephs an 8-6 lead.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Colby tied the game at 8-8. Williams took a one goal the lead twice more in the half off of goals from Spackman and Ferriter, but Colby matched the Ephs both times.
With 5:27 to play, the Mules’ Caroline Atwater netted a pass from Kate Sheridan to pull ahead 11-10, and the Ephs were unable to recover. The Mules sealed the deal with another goal at 0:43, and went on to win 12-10.
Sophomore goaltender Julia Schreiber played all 60 minutes for the Ephs and made eight saves while, Sarah Warnke made one save for Colby during the first half and Keryn Meierdierks blocked two in the second.
Britt Spackman led the Ephs in points with two goals and two assists, followed by Whitney Thayer with three goals and Margie Fulton with two goals and one assist. Heather Nickerson had four goals for Colby and Kate Sheridan had four assists.
Ephs head coach Chris Mason was proud of her team despite the loss. “Colby is a strong, fast, athletic team with great ball handling, but we played with them the entire game and worked incredibly hard. It is heartbreaking to lose in the finals, but it was close the whole time and we really played well as a team.”
Mason noted the strong leadership and determination from seniors Julia Nawrocki, Britt Spackman, and Lizzie Burns has been an asset for the Ephs throughout the NESCAC tournament.
While the Ephs will not get an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, they are in the running for an at large bit. The NCAA bracket will be announced either Sunday night or Monday morning.
