Buckley, Palumbo lauded on NE-10 Weekly Honor Roll after strong defensive showings

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College women's lacrosse senior goalkeeper Sandy Palumbo (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) and sophomore defender Nicole Buckley (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) both drew Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll accolades for the week ending on Sunday, April 1.

Palumbo posted a .675 save percentage, a 6.50 goals-against average, 13.5 saves per game and 4.5 ground balls per contest while helping Saint Michael's split a pair of games. In a 13-5 win at Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, she had 17 saves in addition to four ground balls, yielding only one goal during the opening 30:46 of the game. On Wednesday, Palumbo made 10 saves and had five ground balls in the Purple Knights' 8-4 loss at Franklin Pierce University, helping her team limit a squad that had scored at least 11 goals in its previous five games.

Buckley averaged 6.5 ground balls and 4.0 caused turnovers. At Southern Connecticut State, Buckley scooped up nine ground balls and caused seven turnovers before totaling four ground balls and a caused turnover at Franklin Pierce.

Palumbo is third in the NE-10 in both save percentage (.518) and saves (88), having entered the day ranking fourth in Division II in save percentage and ninth in saves per game. She is 24 stops short of 500 for her career. Buckley is second in the conference in caused turnovers (21) and tied for 10th in ground balls (24), beginning the week third in the nation in caused turnovers. Buckley has been a critical member of a defense that ranks seventh in Division II in caused turnovers and 13th in ground balls, as well as 14th in scoring defense.

The Purple Knights are 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the NE-10, as they are one win short of matching their highest total since 2008. They host Bentley University on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.