Castleton Downs Emerson in ECAC Semifinal

Third-seeded Castleton State College made the most of its scoring opportunities and upset second seeded Emerson College 22-15 in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference New England Division III Championship tournament at Emerson’s Rotch Field.  The Spartans connected on 22 of 36 shots in the game.

Castleton drew first blood in the contest when Angelica Mazzola (FY, Centerport, N.Y.) scored on an assist from Nicole Adams (Jr., Rutland, Vt.) 3:05 into the game.  Emerson came right back, knotting the game at one on a goal by Amy Gervis (FY, Randolph, N.J.) 53 seconds later.

Goals by Adams, Marie VanDerKar (So., Manchester, Vt.), and Mazzola regained the lead for the Spartans, but Emerson then answered with a pair of Maeghan Ross (So., Wrentham, Mass.) goals to pull the Lions within one.

Adams again hit the back of the net off Stephanie Pearce’s (Jr., Shoreham, N.Y.) third assist of the game, and Ross answered again for Emerson to keep the one goal deficit.  A four goal burst by Castleton that included goals by Pearce, Mazzola and two by Adams over the next 1:52 opened a 9-4 edge.

The team then traded three goals each to end the half with a 12-7 Castleton advantage.  The last minute of play proved costly for Emerson as Ross, the Lions’ leading scorer picked up a second yellow card with 32 seconds remaining in the half and was disqualified for the remainder of the game.

Emerson’s Laura Miley (So., Cranston, R.I.) opened the second half with the first of her three goals in the period.  Pearce answered just over a minute later and Stephanie Paproski (FY, Newtown, Conn.) gave Castleton a six goal lead.  Emerson was able to pull within for goals on two different occasions, but that was as close as the Lions would come.

Emerson outshot Castleton 40-36, had a 21-11 edge in ground balls, and a 22-13 turnover margin.  Castleton was dominant in draw controls, winning 18 to the Lions’ 10.

Francesca Mazzola (Sr., Centerport, N.Y.) had a huge game in net for Castleton making 18 saves.  Emerson’s Kristen DeTroia (FY, Bridgewater, N.J.) had nine in the losing effort.

Castleton (15-3) will now host fourth-seeded Western New England College in the ECAC New England Division III Championship game on Sunday with a game time to be announced.  Emerson saw its 12 game win streak snapped to finish the season at 13-3.

Courtesy: Emerson Athletic Communications