PLYMOUTH, N.H. - The Bridgewater State College women's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to seven games Thursday afternoon, defeating Plymouth State University, 22-13, in a non-conference contest at Arold Field.
The Bears (7-3) used a balanced offensive attack to outgun the Panthers, with four players scoring at least four goals. Junior Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) led the way with five goals and an assist, while classmate Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY) added four goals and two assists. Sophomores Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) and Patricia Maloney (Walpole, MA) also contributed four goals apiece and classmate Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) chipped in with two goals and two assists.
With her six points, Manning moved past Laura Swart into second place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as she now has 227 points in her career. Swart tallied 222 points from 2000 to 2003. Manning also tied Ann Silvia for third place on BSC's career goal-scoring list with her five goal performance. Silvia potted 145 goals from 1997 to 2000.
PSU (1-7) had its second-highest scoring output of the season. Freshman Brianna Davis (Framingham, MA) led the team by matching her season high with five goals, while freshman Nicole Grover (Yarmouth, ME) and junior Kalie Judd (Peabody, MA) added three goals apiece. Grover also contributed an assist and a team-high five draw controls, and Judd collected four draw controls.
It was a close game for much of the first half. BSC took an early lead, but PSU came back and stayed within striking distance. Judd scored for PSU with just under eight minutes remaining to pull the Panthers to within 5-3, but the Bears tallied four unanswered goals to close out the half with a 9-3 advantage.
Bridgewater pulled away from the Panthers in the second half, outscoring the home team 5-1 in the first eight minutes of the second half to go up 14-4, and PSU got no closer than seven goals the rest of the way.
Junior goalie Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) made 16 saves to register the victory in the BSC cage. Freshman Nicole Provencher (Guilford, CT) made four stops for PSU.
PSU returns to Little East Conference action Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. contest at Rhode Island College. Bridgewater State returns home to host Castleton State in a New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) encounter Saturday at 1:00 p.m.