Lancers Push Past Chargers in Saturday Afternoon Play

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's Jackie Connors (Ashland, Mass.), Kaila Chase (Northbridge, Mass.), and Mackenzie Callini (W. Springfield, Mass.) scored a combined 15 goals to help lead Lancers to a 21-13 win over Colby-Sawyer College Saturday afternoon at John F. Coughlin Field.

"Offensively, we had some great shooting today," commented head coach Deb Draper. "A lot of people found the back of the net which I was happy to see."

Worcester State's Amanda Pruyn (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals in the beginning of the game, putting the Lancer's ahead 2-0. Connors came through and scored an unanswered goal to add to the Lancers' just a few minutes later.

Colby-Sawyer's Caitlyn Whearty (Hampstead, N.H.) scored the Charger's first goal six minutes into the game on an assist from Sara Berry (Bowdoinham, Me.). Worcester State pulled ahead moments later and went on a 7-3 run to widen their lead to five. The Chargers then built some momentum before the half as they scored six goals before the horn to mark a score of 11-9 in the Lancers' favor.

Worcester State senior duo of Chase and Connors broke open the second half, scoring three goals in the first five minutes of play.  With 24:10 remaining, Colby Sawyer came back with a goal from Bailey Starr (Barre, Vt.) as Worcester State's was a man down. Though, Worcester State went on a 7-3 scoring run to finish the game with a score of 21-13.

Colby-Sawyer's Berry led the Charge with four goals and one assist for a combined five points. Whearty scored three goals and added in an assist, while Starr netted two goals for the Chargers. Starr had a game-high eight draw controls, while Nicole Lavigne (Berlin, Vt.) tallied up six.

"I was particularly pleased with our goalkeeper today," commented Draper. Lancer's goalie Krissy Pessa (Wapole, Mass.) tallied up seven saves on 20 shots for her second win of the season. Colby-Sawyer's goalie Meghan Castellano (Wallingford, Conn.) registered seven saves for the entire 60 minutes played.

Colby-Sawyer held the advantage in draw controls 20 to 10 while the Lancers outnumbered the Chargers 21 to 11 in ground balls. "Our team is coming into their own with their ball control," stated Draper. "We were able to get some very good control, causing a lot of turnovers in the middle area."

The Lancers will take on Castleton on Friday in a 6:30 p.m. home matchup before traveling to California for the spring games the following week. Colby-Sawyer resumes action in two days (Mar. 14) as they will take on Stevenson University in San Juan, Puerto Rico.