STAFF REPORT

HARTFORD, Conn.– After pulling out wild come-from-behind wins the last two years to reach the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinal round, the Colby College women’s lacrosse team made it look easy this year after romping to a 16-5 win over Messiah College in a second round game Saturday at Trinity College.

The eighth-ranked Mules are 15-2 overall and will meet host Trinity in an NCAA quarterfinal at 1 p.m. today. The winner is the regional champion and moves on to the NCAA Final Four at Montclair (N.J.) State next weekend. Trinity, a 17-6 winner against Buffalo State in the first game of the day, is ranked fifth nationally and won the New England Small College Athletic Conference title.

Junior All-American midfielder Kate Pistel led the Mules with four goals, three unassisted, as they jumped to a 7-1 lead. She also added two assists, four ground balls and caused two Messiah turnovers. Lindsey Mckenna also had four goals for Colby and added an assist. She has 44 goals this season and is one point shy of 100 with 87 goals and 12 assists in two years at Colby.

Tess Petesch added two goals and two assists for the Mules while Sarah Lux recorded three assists to push her team-leading total to 28 this season and 51 over two seasons. Katie Griffin added a pair of goals, Claire Donegan had two assists and the Mules received single goals from Lane McVey, Sara Miller and Lucy Gerrity.

Colby goaltender Michelle Burt made nine saves to lower her goals-against average to 7.08. Kelsey Luck made seven saves for Messiah (16-5). Kirsten Karis led Colby in caused turnovers (3) and added a pair of ground balls.

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