Box Score
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Freshman Kristin White (Amherst, Mass.) and junior midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham) scored five and four goals, respectively, to lead Bridgewater State to an 18-13 victory over Westfield State in a key New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) game on Tuesday evening, April 7.
Bridgewater, which outscored Westfield, 12-6 in the second half, boosted its record to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in NEWLA. Westfield, a third-year varsity program, saw its seven-game winning streak snapped as it moved to 8-2 and 3-1.
Trailing 4-2, the Owls went on a 5-1 run to take its largest lead, 7-5, with 3:38 left in the first period. They led at halftime, 7-6.
Manning and White scored in the first 1:33 of the second half to give the Bears an 8-7 lead. Westfield tied the game twice over the next five minutes on goals by junior Ally Brown (North Andover).
With the score knotted at 9-all, the Bears took the lead for good on a goal by White with 19:26 remaining. Westfield trailed, 11-10, on another Brown goal at the 18:23 mark.
Bridgewater led 12-10 with 6:19 remaining when it began a 4-1 scoring run to take a commanding 16-11 lead at the 3:56 mark.
Finishing with three goals for the Bears were Courtney Lennon (Swampscott) and Jenny Jones (Framingham). Sophomore Rachel Dionne (Feeding Hills) led the Owls with four goals and an assist, while Brown had three goals and two assists.
In a key statistic, Bridgewater converted 5 of 9 free position shots; Westfield was 2 for 5.
Owl freshman goalie Kaity Burns (Wilbraham) made 12 saves; Bridgewater goalie Meghan Griffin (Billerica) had 10 stops.
Rachel Dionne skips the ball (lower left corner) past the Bridgewater goalie for one of her team-high four goals. Photo By Kellye St. John
Rachel Costa scoops up a grounder. Photo By Kellye St. John