Second Half Surge Pushes Springfield Past Lacrosse in NEWMAC Semifinals, 17-10

BABSON PARK, Mass. (May 1, 2010) – Led by sophomore Jackie Moscardelli, the second seeded Springfield College women’s lacrosse team handed third seeded Mount Holyoke College a 17-10 setback in the Semifinal Round of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament this afternoon at Babson College’s MacDowell Field. The midfielder scored three of her five goals after the intermission, as the Pride outscored Mount Holyoke 12-4 in the second half.

With its third win in a row, Springfield (10-7, 4-2 NEWMAC) punched its ticket to tomorrow’s NEWMAC Championship. The Pride will meet up with top seeded Babson, who downed fifth seeded MIT 16-7 in today’s other Semifinal Round matchup. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. at MacDowell Field.

Mount Holyoke, which entered the contest riding a three game winning streak, fell to 10-6 on the year. The Lyons posted a 3-3 mark in league play. They will now wait to see if they are selected to participate in the either the NCAA Division III National Tournament or the ECAC Division III New England Tournament. Mount Holyoke would need to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, as only conference tournament champions receive automatic qualification. NCAA Tournament brackets will be unveiled Sunday, May 9 at 10:00 p.m. on CBS College Sports Network. ECAC Tournament brackets will be released the following day. Both tournaments are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, March 12.

Moscardelli finished the day with six points on five goals and an assist. Springfield also received solid production from junior attacker Meagan Dobson, who recorded a hat trick and two assists. Graduate student Erin Doolan added two goals and a helper. The Pride are now perfect in four postseason meetings with Mount Holyoke. They avenged a 12-11 double overtime setback to the Lyons during the regular season.

Mount Holyoke was paced by senior midfielder Perry Markell, who racked up four goals and nine draw controls. Sophomore attacker Hilary Bombard registered her fourth hat trick of the season. Meanwhile, senior midfielder Peggy Wefald found the back of the net twice and dished out one assist.

The Lyons jumped out to a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the game and led 4-2 following a Markell tally midway through the first half. They took a 6-5 edge into the break.

Springfield then rattled off five straight goals over the first 12 minutes of the second stanza and never looked back. The Pride led by as many as eight goals on two occasions after the intermission.

Mount Holyoke fell despite a 22-7 advantage in draw controls. The Lyons entered the contest as the national leaders in the category with 18.9 per game. Springfield finished with edges in shots (44-26) and ground balls (20-18).

Senior goalkeeper Lauren McAulay made 11 saves for the Pride. Her counterpart, sophomore Jeanmarie Petersen, stopped nine shots for Mount Holyoke.