BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State College sophomores Shannon Manning and Meghan Griffin earned New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) Player and Defensive Player of the Week honors respectively after leading the Bears to a season-opening 16-12 victory over the University of New England.
A Framingham, Massachusetts native, Manning scored five goals and added an assist in the Bears' opener. She also led BSC with three draw controls and netted the game-winning goal, breaking a 9-9 tie with her fourth marker of the day midway through the second half.
Griffin, who transferred to BSC after one season at Curry College, turned aside eight shots and led all players with six ground balls in her BSC debut. She faced 32 shots in the game.
In 16 games as a freshman last season, Manning led Bridgewater State with 48 goals and 59 points. Griffin, who hails from Billerica, Mass, started all 21 games for Curry last season as a rookie and posted a record of 15-6 with 212 saves.
Bridgewater State, which returns to the NEWLA after competing as an independent for three seasons, was selected as the preseason favorite in a vote conducted by the league's coaches. The Bears received five out of the eight first place votes.