FIELD HOCKEY WINS NECC CHAMPIONSHIP

Leicester, Mass.- Nicole Lijana (Moorestown, NJ) scored a hat trick, as Becker College won the inaugural New England Collegiate Conference field hockey championship with a 5-0 win over Elms College.

Rachel Fink (Bath, PA) got the Hawks started 2:05 into the game, when she received a pass in front from Jessica Provencher (Berwick, ME), for a 1-0 lead. The Hawks went up 2-0 when Victoria Sirchia (Goshen, Conn) fed Nicole Lijana, who scored lying down on the turf. Lijana put the Hawks up comfortably when she tipped a shot from Jessica Provencher passed Elms goalkeeper Katelyn Wasgatt (Worcester, Mass), for a 3-0 lead. Victoria Sirchia capped off the Hawks first half explosion when she drove a rebound past the dive of the goalkeeper.

Nicole Lijana completed her hat trick when she tipped another Jessica Provencher shot into the net, making the score 5-0. Katelyn Wasgatt made 13 saves in a losing effort. The blazers finished the season with a record of 6-13. Ciara Lawrence (Costa Mesa, Calif) made 7 saves in a winning effort. Kristal Swiderski (Warren, Mass.) was named tournament MVP by Commissioner Del Malloy. The Hawks finished the season with a record of 12-9.