SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The Western New England women's lacrosse team had several nice comebacks this year, but this was the best of them all.

Senior attacker Jeanmarie Barbato (Huntington Station, NY) put an exclamation point on one of the best seasons in program history by scoring six goals with an assist as the top-seeded Golden Bears defeated second-seeded Curry 14-10 in the first-place game of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship Saturday afternoon (May 14).

Junior midfielder Katie Toomy (Northborough, MA) also had a seven-point outing with two goals and five assists as Western New England captured its third ECAC title in the last four years.

Coach Aimee Klepacki?s squad also finished its campaign with a 17-5 record that tied the school mark wins (previously set in 2008).

Curry, which dropped a 14-9 decision to WNE in its regular season meeting back on April 16 in Milton, Massachusetts, started strong scoring goals on its first five shots.

Senior attacker Ashley Hansbury (Chelmsford, MA) fired in two shots in the opening 1:24 that gave the visitors a quick 2-0 lead. She had three goals in the game to end her great career with 501 points and 362 goals, both NCAA Division III records.

The Golden Bears took the next two draw controls and tied the contest on goals 61 second apart by Toomy and Barbato with 27:23 left in the opening half.

Curry responded with five unanswered goals over the next 8:05 with two coming from sophomore attacker Ana Bottary (Hull, MA). Freshman midfielder Kaitlin Cloutier (Montpelier, VT) gave the Colonels their biggest lead at 7-2 at the 17:33 mark.

Western New England came back using a goal by freshman midfielder Kelsey Daniels (South Windsor, CT) and two by Barbato (the last coming with six seconds before halftime) with assists from Toomy to get within 7-5 at intermission.

The Golden Bears opened the second half with four straight goals to complete a 7-0 run, tying the game on a shot by senior attacker Nicole Squadrito (Ellington, CT) with 25:47 remaining and taking the lead for good when senior defender Nicole Poli (Medfield, MA) found the net 1:30 later. Barbato then tallied her fourth goal (with an assist from Poli) for a 9-7 advantage.

Curry senior attacker Jessie Koffman (Andover, MA) cut the deficit to one with 22:03 left in the contest before the Golden Bears scored four consecutive goals for a 13-8 lead with 15:14 left.

Freshman midfielder Shelby Trebbe (Wilbraham, MA) started the run with an assist from Barbato followed by a goal by junior midfielder Liz McRoberts (Bourne, MA) with an assist from Toomy. Barbato added her final two goals on a free position shot and assist from Trebbe, and the Colonels couldn?t make up the difference.

Trebbe helped key the second half attack with two goals and two assists.
Poli ended with a goal, two assists, three caused turnovers, three draw controls, and three ground balls. McRoberts had a game-high five draw controls.

Senior goalie Marissa Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights, NY) settled down after a rough beginning and compiled 13 saves.

Koffman had a four-point outing with two goals and two assists for the Colonels. Cloutier also chipped-in with six ground balls and three draw controls. Koffman, junior midfielder Lauren Glavin (Billerica, MA), and freshman defender Mel Brickey (Chelmsford, MA) all had three draw controls as well. Senior goalie Maria Lynch (Billerica, MA) turned away ten shots.

Curry ends one its best seasons with a 16-5 record. (Game Recap Courtesy of Western New England Sports Information)

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