CCC CHAMPIONSHIP: Second-Half Surge Propels Roger Williams To 16-7 Victory Over Endicott

BRISTOL, R.I. – The second-seeded Endicott women's lacrosse team fell, 16-7, to top-seeded Roger Williams University Saturday afternoon at Bayside Field in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship game.

Battling their fifth all-time meeting in the conference championship to a 5-5 halftime deadlock, the Hawks won their first-ever CCC title thanks in part to an 11-0 run in the second half that proved to be too great a deficit for the Gulls to overcome.

Endicott struck first with a free-position goal from freshman midfielder Jackie Neilsen (Agawam, Mass.) at 21:56 and took a 3-2 lead on back-to-back goals from junior midfielder Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) at 14:25 on two feeds from freshman attack Jackie Healy (Northborough, Mass.), who put away the Gulls' fourth goal at 7:18.

Whitney completed her hat trick by potting a goal with 1:47 remaining before halftime to knot the score at five apiece.

The Hawks scored 11 unanswered goals to begin the second half before Endicott received tallies from sophomore midfielder Olivia Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore attack Erin McCarthy (Old Lyme, Conn.) to close out the game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Hawks out-shot the Gulls, 37-11, including an 18-2 edge in the second half.
• Junior Maura Grady (Marblehead, Mass.) finished 6-10 on the season in goal as she made 13 saves in the defeat with a game-high five ground balls, before being replaced by freshman Bella Rino (Northborough, Mass.) who closed out the last 16:07 minutes in goal for the Gulls and recorded one save.
• Whitney continued her scoring streak as she notched a hat trick and one assist to lead the Gulls.
• Whitney has scored in 16 of the Gulls' 18 games this season, including eight games with at least three goals.
• Healy scored one goal and had a team-high two assists.
• The Gulls are now 9-2 in CCC Championship games in program history.

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore midfielder Carly Martin (Scituate, Mass.) recorded a game-high nine points on three goals and a game-high six assists.
• Junior midfielder McKenna Everding (Fayetteville, N.Y.) won a game-high seven draw controls as the Hawks' registered 17 to the Gulls' eight in the game. Everding also buried two goals.
• Sophomore midfielder Kaelin Hogan (Bethel, Conn.), senior midfielder Caitlin Murphy (Londonderry, N.H.), freshman midfielder Marin Owens (Brookline, N.H.) also each netted a hat trick.
• Freshman midfielder Emily Stoeppel (Brookfield, Conn.) tallied two goals and three assists with two ground balls, three draw controls and one caused turnover. 
• Junior Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) made two saves (all in the first half) as she improved to 15-3 on the season.
• Junior defender Caitlin Shanahan (Forest Hills, Md.) caused a game-high four turnovers.

NOTES

• The Gulls are 18-4 all-time and 6-3 on the road all-time at Roger Williams dating back to March 25, 2004.
• Roger Williams has won four straight meetings against the Gulls, including a 10-7 victory in Bristol, R.I., in the most recent meeting before today on April 23, 2016 in the regular season.
• The Gulls and Hawks have squared off nine times in the CCC postseason and Endicott stills holds a 7-2 edge as Roger Williams defeated Endicott for the first time in postseason play in the 2015 CCC Semifinals by a score of 15-6 on April 29, 2015.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (8-10)  sees its season come to an end, while Roger Williams (15-3) earned the conference's automatic qualifier bid into the 2016 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament with the selection show on Sunday, May 8th at 9:30 p.m. Watch here: http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2016/05/08 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

2016 CCC Women's Lacrosse Tournament

 Quarterfinals – Saturday, April 30 

#3 University of New England  def. #6 Curry, 12-5 | BOX
#4 Western New England def. #5 Gordon, 16-13 | BOX

Semifinals – Wednesday, May 4

#1 Roger Williams def. #4 Western New England, 12-11 (OT) | BOX
#2 Endicott def. #3 University of New England, 14-10 | BOX

Finals – Saturday, May 7

#1 Roger Williams def. #2 Endicott, 16-7 | BOX