BOX SCORE POST GAME INTERVIEW

WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The nationally ranked No. 14 University of New Haven women's lacrosse team defeated the visiting Saint Michael's College Purple Knights 16-5 Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Kayo Field. With the win, the Chargers clinched the No. 4 seed in next week's Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament and will host No. 5 Bentley University in the quarterfinal round.

New Haven concludes the regular season with an 11-6 overall record, its fifth 10-win season in the last six years under head coach Jen Fallon. UNH also finished with a 9-3 Northeast-10 Conference record, the program's second-ever 9-win conference slate. Saint Michael's concludes the season with a 5-10 overall record and a 3-9 conference mark.

Senior Kristina Curry (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) paced the Chargers with six points (5g, 1a). Fellow senior, Natalie Lieberman (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) added five points (4g, 1a), while six others also record at least one point in the win. Nicole McKee (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) tallied five draw controls, two ground balls, a caused turnover and one goal, while Kathryn Campbell (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) contributed three points (1g, 2a), three draw controls, a ground ball and a caused turnover.

With just 44-second off the clock, New Haven struck first when Curry fed the ball to a cutting Courtney Ackland (Perth, Western Australia/Churchlands). The teams exchanged possession and the Purple Knights answered with an unassisted goal from Melissa Jackiewicz goal with 26:03 on the clock. Over the course of the next eight minutes the Chargers and Purple Knights went back-and-forth. Lieberman netted her second at the 24:47 mark, followed by Kate Boyer from Saint Michael's at the 18:49 mark to even the score at 2-2.

New Haven took control over the next nine minutes of play. Lieberman and Curry both scored two goals and the Chargers jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 8:55 left in the first half. Curry scored two more in the closing minutes of the first half, while the Purple Knights netted one, and the Chargers held an 8-3 lead at halftime.

UNH and Saint Michael's split a pair of goals to open the second half and bring the score to 9-4. New Haven proceeded to put the lead out of reach with three unanswered goals over the next 11 minutes. Lieberman found Campbell in front of the net to put New Haven ahead 12-4 with 16:52 on the clock. The Purple Knights scored their final goal at the 9:56 mark when Claire Martin scored an unassisted goal. The Chargers finished out the game with four more scores to take the game by a final score of 16-5.

The Chargers led 35-17 in shots, 13-10 in draw controls and 24-15 in ground balls Saturday. New Haven cleared the ball 19-of-22 times, while the Purple Knights were successful 11-of-16 attempts.

In goal, New Haven's Marissa McDermott (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy) improved to 9-2 on the season with nine saves and just five goals against. 

New Haven's game against Bentley on Wednesday marks the fifth-straight postseason appearance for the Chargers, including a trip all the way to the Championship in 2009. The winner of Wednesday afternoon's 4 p.m. game will advance to take on top seed and NE-10 Championship Final Four host Le Moyne College on Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m.

For complete details and coverage of the Chargers' run to the NE-10 Championship tournament, stay posted to NewHavenChargers.com all week.