Magical Season for Women's Lacrosse Come to an End

Despite posting one of the best regular seasons in Plymouth State Women's Lacrosse history, the Panthers lost to the Western Connecticut State Colonials last Friday, May 4th. This loss concluded the Panthers' season, as they ended up with a 13-2 overall record, and were undefeated in regular season play in the Little East Conference with a 6-0 record.

The game started off rough for the Panthers, as West Conn opened up the game with two goals within the first five minutes of the match. The tide started to turn in Plymouth's favor, as Shannon Connerty (Nashua, N.H.) scored a goal to put the Panthers on the board after a nice pass from Amy MacDonald (Hull, MA) that ultimately led the goal. Caitlin Swanson (Holderness, N.H.) was able to tie the game up with a breakaway goal mid-way through the first half. 

It appeared that PSU had built some momentum, and that this was going to carry them through the rest of the first half, but West Conn would score three out of the next four goals to put the lead at 5-3. Connerty and junior Amanda Richardson (Bradford. N.H.) were able to narrow the lead down, but the Colonials had a 7-6 lead going into halftime.

The second half was back-and-forth, as both teams exchanged goals with each other. First year player Molly Gleason (Haverhill, MA), sophomore McKenna Bay (Maracaibo, Venezuela) and Connerty were able to find the back of the net for the Panthers in the second half, but they needed one more in order to force an overtime period. Goalie Lorin Field (Hollis, N.H.) ended up with eight saves and six ground balls in goal for the Panthers, while junior Kristen Guest had a fantastic game defensively, with four groundballs and three caused turnovers.

After the loss, Head Coach Kristin Blanchette was able to look at the positives of the season as a whole. "Our season was a huge success. I don't think you can judge a team's success just off of what happened in the playoffs," Blanchette stated the day following the game. "We had people who broke long-standing PSU lacrosse records (including Meghan McNabb (Lexington, MA) breaking the assists record as well as Gleason setting the bar for draw controls in a season, among others) and hold top rankings in the NCAA" added Blanchette.

This is also an extremely young team, as almost half of the roster is composed of first year players. Coach Blanchette said that "we will return a lot of experience next year. Having 6 or 7 freshman starters only puts us in a great situation for future years. The experiences they gained this year is huge and will be very helpful for next season".

With that said, the two graduating seniors on this team will be greatly missed in defenders Jill Gerzabek (Branford, CT) and Nora Regan (West Hartford, CT).  "Jill & Nora have been the best seniors you could ask for. They never questioned me or my staff and always dedicated 100% of themselves to the program," Blanchette said of the graduating seniors. Both of these defenders will be extremely tough to replace, as they have been involved with the program for a combined seven years. "Even though we are losing two seniors, there will be a big void left in our team because of the impact they've made over the years," noted Blanchette.

The 2012 season put the women's lacrosse team on the map to not only all of their opponents, but the NCAA as a whole. A number of players from this team will try out for the United States team in a few weeks, and will be sure to show the rest of the nation how good they really are despite being a Division III school. This team has just started to light a match on their potential, and next year looks to be one of, if not the most, successful season in Plymouth State Women's Lacrosse history. 

Tidbits and Recognition

-Congratulations to Jill Gerzabek on receiving the Panther award this past Monday. This award, which one player receives on every single Plymouth team, is an extremely prestigious award that is given to the player that represents PSU in the community, in class, as well as on the field.

-Head Coach Kristin Blanchette also received a couple of well renowned awards, as she was named Plymouth Coach of the Year as well as Little East Coach of the Year in Women's Lacrosse. 

-The awards didn't end here for the Panthers, as Kristen Guest, Caitlin Swanson, Kristen Guest, Molly Gleason and Meghan McNabb were all named to the LEC-1st team this season, while Shannon Connerty was named to the LEC-2nd team.

-In addition to being named to the LEC-1st team, Swanson was named Midfielder of the Year, while Field was named Defensive Player of the Year and McNabb was named Rookie of the Year.