FRANKLIN, Mass. – March 16, 2022 – The Dean College women's lacrosse team was edged by Elms, 17-14, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game Wednesday evening.  

Dean (0-4, 0-2 GNAC) travels to Colby-Sawyer on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start. Elms (3-0, 2-0 GNAC) also travels to Colby-Sawyer next to play the Chargers on Sunday at 1 p.m.

First-year Natalie Peterson (Hudson, Mass.) paced the Dean offense with four goals. Junior Allie Bezio (Wellfleet, Mass.) notched a hat trick. First-year Nina Medeiros (Fairhaven, Mass.) recorded two goals, an assist, six ground balls and seven draw controls. Junior Maire Brown (Huntington, N.Y.) tallied a goal, two assists, four ground balls, four caused turnovers and three draw controls.  

Elms was led by junior Anna-Elise Pikul (Belchertown, Mass.). She registered nine goals and one assist. First-year Elise Paier (West Springfield, Mass.) added three goals and three assists, while junior Taylor Borla (Southington, Conn.) also notched a hat trick to go with a team best six ground balls.

Senior goalie Emma Walsh (Dracut, Mass.) earned the win for Elms with 14 saves. Dean goalie Jada Fields (Acushnet, Mass.) played solid in net to finish with 16 saves.

The Bulldogs led 4-2 after the first quarter as junior Jazzy Sztyler-Magee (Burlington, Conn.) scored both of her goals in the frame.

Elms then took a 9-8 lead at the half after outscoring Dean 7-4 in the second. Pikul had four tallies for the Blazers, while Peterson and Bezio each scored twice for the Bulldogs.

In a low scoring third quarter, Elms was able to add on to its lead with a 2-1 margin to go on top 11-9 after 45 minutes.

Peterson opened the scoring in the fourth to pull Dean within a goal, but Elms scored the next three to take a 14-10 advantage. After a pair of Medeiros goals for the Bulldogs made it 14-12, the Blazers responded with a pair to retake a 4-goal lead. Dean scored the next two goals before Elms added an insurance score with less than 30 seconds to play to secure the 17-14 victory.