PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – The New England College women's lacrosse team suffered defeat on their first day in the Spring Fling Tournament against Manhattanville University this evening at Publix Sports Park- Field one in non-conference action on Tuesday in Panama City Beach, Florida.
THE BASICS
Score: New England College 6, Manhattanville University 19
Records: Pilgrims 3-2, 1-0 GNAC | Valiants 1-1, 0-0 Skyline
HOW IT HAPPENED
- MU got off to a fast start that NEC was not prepared for in the early going. The Valiants managed to claim a 2-0 lead over in just 1:39 into the first quarter of action. That didn't seem to have any effect on the reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Week in junior attacker Mackenzie McDonald (Boscawen, N.H.) who got the 'Grims on the board thanks to a pass from junior attacker Kaylee Montgomery (Weare, N.H.). After that MU would settle back into the game as they managed to find the back of the net three consecutive times for a lead as big as three goals, 4-1. NEC freshman attacker Lilly Vaughn (Belmont, N.H.) would shorten the Valiants lead thanks to the free position shot opportunity bestowed to her making it a two-goal game still favoring MU, 4-2. Things began to progressively get worse for the 'Grims as the defense was smothered by MU's offensive performance as they scored an additional four goals with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter, 9-2. Before the conclusion of the quarter, Vaughn would get a shot off that translated into a goal but not until MU responded with a goal of their own shortly after to keep them out in front comfortably, 10-3.
- Things would quite down significantly in the second quarter of play, but the Valiants still made their presence to NEC. They scored the first two goals of the quarter. NEC sophomore attacker Lucy Armour (Falmouth, Mass.) would help stop the bleeding for the 'Grims momentarily with her goal but MU would have the last laugh going into the half securing the last goal of the quarter to stretch the lead out to nine goals, 13-4.
- MU came out with a fast pace that would be hard for NEC to keep up with early on establishing a 3-0 run to keep adding on their rather convincing lead accumulated thus far, 16-4. NEC dug down deep with 8:06 left in the quarter and found scoring opportunities from McDonald and sophomore midfielder Carmela Goodwin (Lebanon, N.H.) without allowing any more offense from MU to translate into goals for the rest of the quarter, 16-6.
- Unfortunately, those were the last goals that would present themselves to NEC as there was no letup whatsoever on behalf of the Valiants as they fired off three more goals to claim the win on the evening over NEC, 19-6.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- NEC junior goalkeeper Isabella Marzano (Warwick, R.I.) did all she could for the 'Grims in between the pipes recording eight saves while facing 29 shots.
- MU freshman goalkeeper Megan McDonald (Pearl River, N.Y.) made four saves on the evening.
- Shots were in favor of the Valiants, 29-11.
- MU freshman midfielder Kathleen O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y.) was the star to shine the brightest earning the game-high in points with seven off of five goals and two assists. Junior attacker Pietra Cabral (Mineola, N.Y.) had the game-high in goals gathering a total of six.
- Turnovers proved to be a problem for NEC, having 10 as opposed to MU who had three.
- MU was nearly perfect on clears going 14-for-15 while NEC was 6-for-9.
- NEC managed to keep things competitive with MU on draw controls to fall short of them by one, 15-14.
UP NEXT
- NEC is back at Publix Sports Park when they take on the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons Thursday, March 13th at 5:00 PM.
- MU plays their next game from Publix Sports Park on Thursday, March 13th at 11:00 AM against SUNY Canton.
For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
