BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Sophomore attack Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY) scored six goals, and sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) added three goals and three assists, to lead the Bridgewater State College women's lacrosse team to a 21-6 win over NEWLA rival Worcester State this afternoon in Bridgewater.
With the win the Bears improve to 8-3 overall and remain undefeated in conference play with a perfect 6-0 NEWLA mark. Bridgewater clinched the top seed for the upcoming NEWLA Tournament and will wrapup the conference regular season title outright with a win on Saturday at Fitchburg State. BSC has now won three straight games and six of their last seven. Worcester falls to 6-3 on the season and 4-2 in the NEWLA.
Manning now has 34 assists on the season as she is averaging more than three assists per game (3.1). The BSC single-season record for assists is held by Paula Habel who notched 47 helpers back in 2002. With five regular season games remaining plus at least one conference tournament game, Manning would need to average just over two assists per game the rest of the way to break the mark.
DeMaio's six goals on the day increased her season total to 31 as she is tied with Manning for second place on the team. Freshman attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA), who found the back of the net three times today, leads the team and the conference with 34 goals.
Leading 6-2 midway through the first half, the Bears tallied the last nine goals of the stanza to head into the break with a 15-2 advantage on the scoreboard. BSC also scored the first four goals of the second half to take their biggest lead of the game at 19-2.
Bridgewater held a 37-14 advantage in shots including a 26-5 edge in the first half. Worcester committed 36 fouls in the game as opposed to just 13 for the Bears. The Lancers were also issued six yellow cards.
Sophomore goaltender Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) registered four saves in goal for the Bears as she picked up her third win of the season. Senior midfielders Lauryn Serratore (Norwood, MA) and Alison Gugliotta (Norwood, MA) added three goals and an assist apiece.
Senior keeper Lyndsey Nunes (Westfield, MA) recorded 12 saves between the pipes for Worcester in the losing effort. Junior attack Shannon Feeley (West Springfield, MA) paced the Lancers with a pair of goals.
Bridgewater State hosts a non-conference game with Mount Holyoke College on Thursday afternoon at 4:30. Worcester hosts NEWLA foe Westfield State College on Saturday at noon.