Springfield, Mass. – April 30, 2011 – The Springfield College women’s lacrosse team stormed past visiting Wheaton College, 18-9, in the New England Women’s and Men’ Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship first semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field. In the second semifinal, defending champion Babson cruised to a 16-3 win over MIT.

Babson and Springfield will now battle for the NEWMAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Sunday at 1:00 pm. The two teams clashed in the regular season, with Springfield prevailing in triple overtime, 14-13.

NEWMAC Semifinal #1 – No. 1 Springfield vs. No. 4 Wheaton
The game pitted a pair of former teammates against one another as Springfield College head coach Kristen Mullady and Wheaton College’s head coach Emily Kiablick played three seasons with each other at Springfield College from 1998 to 2000.

The top-seeded Pride improves to 11-5 on the season, while the fourth-seeded Lyons drop to 7-12.

Leading the way for Springfield was the duo of Meagan Dobson and Jackie Moscardelli. Dobson tallied two goals and two assists, while Moscardelli scored three goals and added a helper. Emily Fowler was tremendous in her first career start as she poured in four goals, having scored just six in her first eight collegiate appearances. Mackenzie Vita posted five ground balls, while Kelly Foley and Moscardelli each had four draw controls. In goal, Anne Versprille registered seven saves in the win.

Moscardelli became the 11th player in program history to score 100 career goals as finished a one-timer from Dobson just under 10 minutes into the game. Moscardelli has 101 goals in just three seasons.

Katie Powers recorded a hat trick to pace Wheaton’s offense, while Tess Meyer scored twice and both Charlotte DeSantis and Hailey Colburn were credited with a goal and an assist. Colburn and Kristen Palmer each had three draw controls and Marianna Marcellin made nine saves despite taking the loss in goal.

Springfield wasted little time netting the gameÂ's first goal as Foley won the opening draw and connected with Fowler for a goal just 14 seconds into the game. Fowler scored again at the 27:38 mark, before Powers spun off a defender on a crease and tallied the Lyons’ first goal at 26:40

From there, the hosts rattled off five straight goals to open up an 8-1 advantage as Dobson and Moscardelli each scored twice, with Dobson assisting on MoscardelliÂ's milestone goal with 20:03 to play. SpringfieldÂ's lead grew to as many as nine at 12-3 with 9:33 to play after Moscardelli dodged to her right and stung a shot into the top corner.

The Lyons responded with three of the final four goals of the half to climb within 13-6 after 30 minutes of play. Colburn started WheatonÂ's burst with a free-position goal at 8:43 before Powers finished on a crease on a great look by Colburn just under a minute later. Fowler and Chelsea McLeod traded goals 1:14 apart to close out the opening halfÂ's scoring.

Fowler once again struck quickly, this time just 24 seconds inside the opening whistle of the second half. Springfield strung together two more goals, off the sticks of Meghan Flanagan and Nicole Soucie to open up a 16-6 lead with 18:36 left in regulation.

DeSantis would answer at the 16:56 mark for Wheaton. However the Pride proved too tough as two more goals from Soucie and Foley gave Springfield its largest lead of the game at 18-7 with 9:10 on the clock. Meyer closed out the scoring with a pair of unassisted markers in the final six minutes of action.

NEWMAC Semifinal #2 – No. 2 Babson vs. No. 3 MIT
The Babson College womenÂ's lacrosse team advanced to its fifth-straight New England WomenÂ's and MenÂ's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) WomenÂ's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday afternoon after dispatching MIT, 16-3, at Springfield CollegeÂ's Stagg Field.

The second-seeded Beavers improve to 9-7, while the third-seeded Engineers drop to 9-6.

After MIT scored the opening goal of the game, Babson netted 14 unanswered goals en route to the 13-goal victory. Colleen Mulligan led Babson with five goals, while teammate Alyssa Hood found the back of the cage four times. Jamie Spang added three goals, while Trisha Babson collected four draw controls. Sarah Macary played just over 55 minutes in goal and was outstanding as she posted 15 saves while giving up just two goals.

For MIT, Erica Little, Molly McShane, and Katie Kauffman each scored once, while Sarah Ritter made seven saves between the pipes. Ritter also added a team-best three ground balls in the loss.

MIT opened up the scoring with their lone goal of the first half at the 22:58 mark on an unassisted strike by Kauffman.

The remainder of the half belonged to the Beavers as they scored the final nine goals to take a commanding 9-1 lead after 30 minutes of play. Babson converted on six unassisted goals and added three free-position strikes in the run. Mulligan was tremendous for Babson as she found the back of the cage three times, while Lockwood and Hood added a pair.

Babson continued to pour on the offensive pressure as five-straight goals to start the second half ballooned the lead to 14-1. MIT would eventually score its first goal in nearly 40 minutes on McShane’s free-position strike at the 13:00 minute mark. Goals from Spang and Mulligan sandwiched an unassisted marker by Little as Babson took the game in a 16-3 final.

The Beavers held a 28-22 advantage in shots and went 16-20 on clear attempts. MIT was limited to just 1-9 on free-position shots, while Babson converted on six of its 10 tries.