UNE falls in OT in season opener

BIDDEFORD — The University of New England women’s lacrosse team didn’t get its season off to the start it wanted Saturday afternoon, falling 12-11 in overtime to Wellesley in the home opener on The Big Blue Turf.

The Nor’easters tied the game with 26.4 seconds left in regulation on Hannah Tavella’s fourth goal of the game, but the Blue’s Brit Mscisz scored the only goal of overtime 25 seconds into the first of two three-minute periods and Wellesley hung for a narrow win.

In addition to Tavella’s four, midfielder Nikki Smith and attacker Gina Newsome both scored three times for the Nor’easters, who held a 24-18 advantage in shots on goal.

Mscisz and Claire Canty both had five goals for the Blue.

“It was a really good first game, I think we just had a little slump there and had a hard time getting back up on it,” UNE coach Sue Estabrook said. “We pulled it back up a little bit too late. It’s a learning experience, that why we play these games before we hit our conference.”

Wellesley had come out the stronger of the two teams and took a 2-0 lead eight minutes in thanks to two Canty goals, but Tavella responded with two of her own in a 2:04 span to tie things at two.

A Wellesley power play goal was answered by Smith’s first tally, and after another UNE penalty Newsome scored twice shorthanded and Tavella added her third as the Nor’easters closed the half with a 4-0 run to lead 6-3 at the break.

“I was very happy with that,” Estabrook said of the way her team ended the opening 30 minutes. “Man down, scoring two goals, very happy with that.”

But the break stopped all that momentum, and like in the first half the Blue blitzed out to start the second, scoring four times in the first 11:08 to take a 7-6 lead.

“We just kind of let it go,” Estabrook said. “We had a slump and stopped communicating and realized we had to pick it back up.”

An Estabrook timeout did little to settle things down, and Wellesley would have increased the lead even more if it wasn’t for three big saves from UNE freshman goalie Courtney Kendall, playing in her first collegiate game.

After Kendall’s stand Smith at last got the Nor’easters off the snide with 12:56 left to tie things at seven. Canty responded for the Blue, but Jessica Deedon and Smith goals 27 seconds apart got UNE back in front.

Mscisz and Newsome then traded goals, but two more goals from Mscisz and Canty gave Wellesley the lead with 6:30 to play.

It stayed that way for six minutes, but after a Wellesley turnover UNE transitioned quickly down the field and found Newsome behind the goal. The sophomore dodged past her defender and found Tavella out front for the equalizer.

“They were doubling up on Tavella every time she’d get in and we just need to learn how to use a little better,” Estabrook said. “We didn’t practice that, it’s something we need to work on.

“But (Tavella’s) a smart girl, she was able to figure that out.”

The game headed into extra time, but Wellesley won the opening faceoff and raced down the field, with Mscisz finding a seam down the left and sliding a shot past Kendall for the lead.

The Blue then slowed the game down, controlling possession for most of the final 5:35 and allowing UNE just two long-range efforts on goal for the 12-11 win.

“We were kind of bunched up a little on the inside, we’re running a new offense this year so I think it’s just being able to watch that on film and see it and cleaning it up,” Estabrook said. “We showed our heart but we just couldn’t pull out the win.”

UNE will look to get into the win column on Thursday when it travels to Gorham to take on Southern Maine, where Estabrook previously coached for three seasons and where three of her assistants once played.

With national-ranked Bowdoin and Colby on the docket after USM, the Nor’easters could use a strong showing against the Huskies, who won the matchup 15-13 a year ago and opened their season Saturday with a 15-11 win over MIT.

Estabrook said working on the small things and “just cleaning up our game” would be the focus.

“USM has always been an important game and we always have close games with them,” she said. “I think it’s just one of those things where they’re not happy and they’re not accepting of it and they’re going to come out and play harder.”

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