DUDLEY, Mass. – The University of New England women’s lacrosse team capped the regular season with an 11-6 The Commonwealth Coast Conference victory at Nichols College Saturday afternoon. Led by four goals and an assist from Amanda Barker, the Nor’easters improve to 4-12 overall and 3-6 in TCCC games. The Bison wrap up their season at 3-10 overall and 0-9 in TCCC action.
Kate McCarter added three points on two goals and an assist for the Nor’easters, while Danielle Cate chipped in with a pair of scores.
KJ Forand (Plymouth, Mass.) paced the Bison with two goals, while Katie Dobbs (Mont Vernon, N.H.) netted her first career goal.
UNE jumped out to a 3-0 lead within the first seven minutes, but goals from Emily Yourie (Ellington, Conn.) and Forand brought the Bison back within one at 18:34.
Cate struck next for the Nor’easters and the teams traded goals for the remainder of the half with the visitors getting the final say as Jessy Dvorak potted an unassisted score with 41 seconds left for a 6-4 advantage at the break.
Nichols’ Anna Schmitt (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored on a free-position tally to open the second half to again bring Nichols within one at 5-6, but McCarter responded with her second of the day four minutes later at 22:15 to extend the visitors’ lead back to two.
Forand scored her second of the afternoon two minutes after, but four-straight UNE goals over the remainder of the game put the victory out of reach.
Nichols goalkeeper Mary Michaud (Agawam, Mass.) made 19 saves in the loss, while UNE netminder Tara Geraghty stopped 10 Bison attempts.
The game marked the final career game for Nichols senior Jessica Porter (Melrose, Mass.). She wraps up her career second in the Nichols record books with 96 career points and 86 career goals. Her 50 points last season marked the second-most in a single season by a Nichols player in program history.
The Nor’easters have locked up the seventh seed in the upcoming TCCC postseason tournament and will travel to face the number two seed in the quarterfinal round Tuesday.
Box Score