At Ritchie Field in Castine on Saturday night, the Husson women’s lacrosse team scored five goals in the fourth quarter including the game winner late by Averi Baker (Hall-Dale) to stun top seeded Maine Maritime Academy 12-11 to win their first ever North Atlantic Conference Championship. Earlier in the day, #1 seeded Mariners men’s lacrosse ousted the Eagles 28-12 in the league semifinals to advance to the title contest on Sunday.
In the women’s championship- Baker scored three first half goals to give the guests a surprising 6-2 advantage at the break. Maine Maritime bounced back and outscored Husson 8-1 in the third quarter and were up 11-7 with 14:36 left to play in the game on a goal by Lillian Diversi (Gardiner). The Eagles would then score the next five in a row to shock the host Mariners. After Natalie Whitten (Maranacook) found the net with 11:43 remaining, Maddy Benoit went on her own run of three consecutive goals in a span of 3:31 to even the score 11-11. Husson goaltender Emma Beegz (Lewiston) came up with a big save on Diversi with just under 1:00 left, and she was able to get the possession back for her team. After a timeout by the Eagles (7-7), Baker would convert the game winner with 23 seconds showing on the clock. Baker and Benoit had four goals each, with Benoit also adding an assist. Kate Boehmcke added two goals, while Whitten had two goals and an assist. Beegz made 14 saves. Husson gets the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament that begins next Saturday, May 10th with the selection show coming up on Monday at 10:30 a.m. Hazel Stoddard (Thornton Academy) led all scorers in the contest with seven points in notching four goals and three assists in the loss for Maine Maritime Academy. Diversi had three goals, and Ella Bowles stopped eight shots in net. The Mariners end a terrific season with a record of 12-2.
In the men’s semifinals- Maine Maritime built a 16-4 halftime lead and rolled into the title game in the 16 goal victory over Husson. Trey Marcil led the Mariners and all scorers in the game with five goals and six assists. Brendan Reddington also added three goals and six assists, while Tobey Lappin put in seven goals and had one assist. Andrew Noyes (Falmouth) and Will Farrell (Lincoln Academy) combined to make eight saves in net. The #4 Eagles end their season at 8-8, and were led by Kiernan Field who had an outstanding season as he had four goals and three assists. Field notched 68 goals and 22 assists in his 16 games on the year. Odin Burk made a program record 31 stops in his net in the loss. Maine Maritime is now 9-5 and will take on SUNY Delhi in the championship game at Ritchie Field at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The Broncos (11-4) defeated Thomas College 19-6 in the second semifinal on Saturday.
