CASTLETON, Vt. - Powered by a career performance from junior
Natalia Agrelo, paired with solid games from standout freshman
Maddie Wright and junior
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez, the UMass Dartmouth women's lacrosse team defeated Castleton, 19-8 in conference action on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs finish their regular season with a record of 8-7 and a 2-5 record in the Little East Conference. The Spartans close their season at 4-12, while their conference record slips to 1-6.
Wright's historic season continues, adding seven more goals to her season total, which now sits at 87, a program record. This eight-point performance also took Wright above 100 total points for the season (107), another UMass Dartmouth record. Agrelo scored a career-high five goals on seven shots, she also grabbed two groundballs and caused a turnover. Sanchez Alvarez attempted a game-high 12 shots, converting on five of them and adding two assists.
With four seconds remaining in the second quarter, Sanchez Alvarez netted her first goal of the contest to put the Corsairs up 10-5 going into the half. In the second half, the Corsairs' offense continued to flourish, scoring six straight goals in the third quarter. All six third-quarter scores came from Wright, Sanchez Alvarez, and Agrelo. UMD jumped way ahead to a sizeable 16-5 lead going into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, the teams went back and forth, each scoring three times in the final 15 minutes, as the Corsairs came out on top of the win-and-in game to decide which program would earn the six seed in the upcoming LEC Championship Tournament. The 19-8 win puts UMass Dartmouth in the tournament.
Wright, who leads the conference in goals, goals per game and points, finished with seven goals and an assist for eight total points. In her efforts, she also snagged seven groundballs, caused two turnovers and won five draw controls. Also having strong outings for the Corsairs was junior
Widline Thomas, who added to the scoring with two goals. She also caused a turnover, grabbed two groundballs and won a team-leading seven draw controls. The final goal scorer for UMD was junior
Erin Donovan. In addition to her goal, Donovan dished two assists for three total points. In the net, senior keeper
Payton Conceicao played all 60 minutes, stopping 18 shots on net while only allowing eight by her.
The Spartans were paced by senior Tien Connor, who had two goals and an assist. Freshman Megan Ward also tallied two scores to go along with a game-high eight groundball pickups and another game-leading, four caused turnovers. In the net for Castleton was Katie Opiela who stopped six shots.
UMass Dartmouth concludes their 2023 regular season with a win to earn them a spot in the conference tournament. The #6 Corsairs will travel to #3 Southern Maine for the first round of the LEC Tournament on Tuesday, May 2. Start time to be determined.
