BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore attack Kristin White (Pelham, MA) tallied a career-high seven goals and senior midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) added four goals and three assists as the Bridgewater State College women’s lacrosse team posted an 18-14 non-conference win over Wheaton College this afternoon in Bridgewater.
The win is the Bears first over the Lyons in 20 years. The last Bridgewater State win over Wheaton was a 13-5 victory in 1990. Bridgewater is now 4-3 on the season, while the Lyons slip to 2-4.
Bridgewater dominated play over the first 30 minutes as the Bears jumped out to a 9-1 lead highlighted by four goals from White and two by Manning. BSC took an 11-3 advantage into halftime, and White gave the Bears a nine-goal lead as she opened the second half scoring with an unassisted tally.
After being outshot 19-11 in the first half, Wheaton seemed to come alive in the second stanza as the Lyons attempted to cut into the deficit. Any Wheaton surge in play, however, was countered by a Bridgewater goal as the Bears maintained at least a five-goal advantage until there was under four minutes left to play.
After White scored Bridgewater’s final goal of the afternoon to put the Bears up 18-11 with 5:11 remaining, Wheaton responded with three goals over the next 1:23 to pull to within four. Bridgewater, however, controlled play over the final three and a half minutes and did not allow Wheaton to gain possession in the offensive zone.
Senior attack Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY) added two goals and three assists for Bridgewater, while senior netminder Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) turned aside nine shots to record her fourth win of the season.
Sophomore attack Hailey Colburn (Concord, NH) paced the visiting Lyons with five goals, while junior midfielder Tess Meyer (Concord, NH) and sophomore attack Katie Powers (Ashburnham, MA) chipped in with three goals apiece. Junior keeper Marianna Marcellino (Milton, MA) was the goalie of record for Wheaton as she dropped to 1-3 on the season. Marcellino gave up the first four goals of the game and recorded two saves. Rookie goaltender Stephanie Hoomis (Duxbury, MA) made nine saves in just under 50 minutes of work in relief of Marcellino.
Bridgewater held a 35-28 shot advantage for the game, and draws were even at 17 apiece. Wheaton was 5-for-9 in free position attempts, while the Bears went 3-for-6.
In addition to her seven-point performance, Manning also led all players with six draw control. She also moved past Paula Habel into second place on the Bears’ all-time goal scoring list with her 185th career goal. Habel notched 184 goals from 2000 to 2003. Manning also needs just four goals to pass Laura Swart as the Bears’ all-time leading goal scorer. Swart tallied 188 goals also from 2000 to 2003.