SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Freshman goalie Leah Neff (South Berwick, ME) tallied six key saves in the last 17 minutes of play as visiting Endicott held on to beat the Western New England College women's lacrosse team 16-15 on Saturday (April 4).

Senior midfielder Rebecca Bushnell (Guildford, CT), junior attacker Valerie Feldman (Albany, NY), and sophomore midfielder Kellie Cunningham (Derry, NH) scored four goals apiece for the Gulls who are 7-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference.

Western New England College drops below the .500 mark at 4-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

The Gulls grabbed a quick 3-0 advantage and led 9-3 with 2:06 left in the opening frame before Western New England College senior tri-captain Lindsey Fenton (Pelham, MA) put in two goals (five goals, two assists) to make it 9-5 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, the Golden Bears scored three times in a three minute span to make it 9-8.

The game was deadlocked three times before Feldman gave Endicott the lead for good at 11:59 to put them up 13-12.

WNEC threatened until the end though. With 2.5 seconds remaining in the contest, sophomore attacker Jeanmarie Barbato (Huntington Station, NY) had a chance to tie the game on a free-position shot, but missed as time expired. She finished with three goals and an assist and freshman midfielder Katie Toomy (Northborough, MA) also had three goals.

Sophomore goalie Marissa Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights, NY) finished with 14 saves for the Golden Bears.

Senior goalie Molly Hamel (North Yarmouth, ME) registered four for Endicott.

2009-04-04