Box Score
In Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opening round tournament action today at Gordon's Brigham Athletic Complex, the No. 3 Fighting Scots were stunned by the No. 6 Nor'easters of the University of New England, 11-10, to bow out of playoff contention and finish their season at 12-3 overall.

With the win UNE improves to 7-9 and advances to face the No. 2 seeded Gulls of Endicott College in the semifinals.

Gordon's effort was paced by CCC Second Team honoree Jessie Castelline (Fr./Concord, Mass.), who recorded four goals and two assists on the day, while Bailey Grinnell (Fr./South Hamilton, Mass.) added two goals and one assist, CCC First Team selections Anna Blomberg (Jr./Simsbury, Conn.) and Krysti Leach (Gr./Naples, Maine) chipped in two goals and two assists, respectively, and CCC Second Team honoree Stephanie Fitzgerald (Jr./Groveland, Mass.) and Alana Woods (Sr./Medford, Mass.) rounded out the Scots' attack with a goal apiece. Keeper Danielle Maguire (Jr./Braintree, Mass.) turned away six of the Nor'easters' attempts in the loss.

Hannah Tavella (Jr./Putnam Valley, N.Y.) took charge on the attack for UNE with five goals and two handouts, while Gina Newsome (So./Danbury, Conn.) and Hannah Warren (So./Harrison, Maine) recorded two goals and one assist each and Nikki Smith (So./Shapleigh, Maine) and Emily Lodge (Sr./Lyman, Maine) chipped in one each. Johanna Currier (Jr./Holderness, N.H.) grabbed a game-high eight draw controls and five ground balls for the Nor'easters, while netminder Courtney Kendall (Fr./Waltham, Mass.) recorded six saves to secure the win.

The Scots got the scoring going on the day when Grinnell drove from the top of the 8m and beat Kendall for the 1-0 lead at 28:07. UNE stormed right back with four unanswered goals from Lodge, Smith, Tavella, and Newsome to make it a 4-1 game at 18:44. Castelline then registered her first of the day on a solo effort at 17:13, but another goal each from Tavella and Newsome extended the visitors' advantage to four goals (6-2) midway through the first.

Not to be outdone, the Scots closed out the half with three straight goals in the final minutes as Castelline converted a pass from Grinnell on a man-up at 5:44, Fitzgerald scored from Castelline at 3:33, and Blomberg fired home a Leach feed with just under a minute to go to close the gap to 6-5 at the half.

Carrying that momentum into the second, Woods brought the game back to even two minutes into the second, beating Kendall on a man-up free position to knot the game at 6-6. The Nor'easters then utilized their second run of the game to establish a 9-6 lead with 20 minutes to play behind a pair of goals from Tavella and one from Warren.

Blomberg stopped that run at 16:49 with her 62^nd goal of the season and Castelline followed that up two minutes later with her own solo man-up goal to bring the grudge match back to within one (9-8). Though Warren responded just 50 seconds after Castelline's goal with her eighth of the season off a Macki Hill (So./York Beach, Maine) assist, Castelline scored again from Leach at 12:20 and Grinnell drove to her left and netted the game-tying tally with 10 minutes to go.

With both teams vying for possession and the decisive goal in the waning minutes, it was UNE's Tavella who netted what proved to be the game-winner off a Newsome assist at 6:52 to propel her team past the Scots and into the next round of tournament action.

The Nor'easters will travel to Endicott on Wednesday, May 1 for a 4 p.m. start.