Junior Stephanie Lenhardt set single game (10) and single season (46) assists records in Westfield’s regular season finale victory at Mass. Maritime. (File photo by Mickey Curtis)
BUZZARDS BAY – Sophomore Blair Smith (Milford, Mass.) netted four goals, while junior Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, Mass.) registered a school single-game record 10 assists to lead Westfield State to a 13-5 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse victory over Massachusetts Maritime Saturday, April 26, at Clean Harbors Stadium.
Lenhardt shattered the Owls’ single-game assists mark of six set by Laura Chiricosta against Norwich on April 6, 2010, and she also established Westfield State’s new single-season record of 46 helpers to top Chiricosta’s previous total of 38 set that same season.
The visiting Owls (8-8, 4-2 MASCAC) jumped out to a 6-0 halftime advantage and scored the first eight goals of the contest, including a hat trick from Smith and a pair of tallies from freshman Caroline Smart (Weymouth, Mass.), but the host Buccaneers (3-9, 0-6 MASCAC) netted three unanswered markers in less than four minutes, including a pair off the stick of senior Hillary Doucette (Manchester, Mass.), to climb back to within five with 18:58 remaining.
After the teams traded scores in the ensuing 2:28 of action, Westfield State iced its triumph with four unanswered goals over a 5:26 span, as Smith and Smart each tallied in that time frame to combine for seven markers on the afternoon..
Sophomore Taylor Eaton (Nahant, Mass.) added a goal and an assist in the victory for the visitors, who also received tallies from senior Lee Meskevich (Becket, Mass.), juniors Mikhala Reedy (Ipswich, Mass.) and Ashley Orris (Worcester, Mass.), sophomore Roni Orcutt (Granville, Mass.) and freshman Rachel McCormack (Plymouth, Mass.) on the afternoon.
Doucette notched a hat trick to finish with a single-season record 32 goals in the setback for Massachusetts Maritime, as she will graduate as the Buccaneers’ career points leader with 64 (61 goals, three assists) in the program’s three-year varsity history. Freshman Dahlia Seggelin (Sharon, Mass.) added a goal and an assist for the hosts, who also received a tally from sophomore Shavonne Boyle (Doylestown, Pa.) and a helper off the stick of sophomore Janine Prokscha (Washington, Conn.).
Sophomore Mimi Khampaeng (Hampden, Mass.) picked up her fifth win of the season in goal with nine saves in 57-plus minutes of play for Westfield State, who also received a stop from freshman Emma Kervick (Wilbraham, Mass.). Sophomore Molly Smith (Westwood, Mass.) made five saves in the setback for Massachusetts Maritime, as the Owls outshot the Buccaneers by a 24-18 margin while holding a 13-7 edge in draw controls for the contest.
Westfield State will be seeded third in next week’s Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championships, as the Owls will host sixth-seeded Framingham State in quarterfinal round action on Tuesday evening, April 29, in Westfield, Mass. beginning at 7:00 p.m. Massachusetts Maritime concluded the season with the program’s highest win total in its three-year varsity history.
