BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) tallied a game-high seven goals to go along with an assist, and senior midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) added four goals and three assists, to lead the Bridgewater State College women’s lacrosse team to a 20-8 victory over Plymouth State University this afternoon in Bridgewater.
The host Bears improve to 8-4 overall on the season with the non-conference win, while Plymouth slips to 4-4.
Bridgewater jumped out in front with Manning opening the scoring with the 200th goal of her career in the first minute of play. The Bears would race out to a 5-0 lead over the first 16 minutes of the contest with Jones tallying the final two goals of the 5-0 run. Plymouth State answered with a goal from sophomore attack Brianna Davis (Framingham, MA) followed by a pair off the stick of senior midfielder Kalie Judd (Peabody, MA) to make it a 5-3 BSC advantage with 6:08 left to play in the first half.
From that point on Bridgewater dominated play. BSC scored the final three goals of the opening stanza, with Manning scoring one and Jones two, to take an 8-3 lead into the intermission. The Bears tallied six of the first seven markers of the second half to open up a ten-point cushion and never looked back. Bridgewater got up by as many as 12 goals on four separate occasions in the second stanza including the final score of 20-8.
With her four goals and three assists, Manning upped her career scoring total to 329 points as she needs just eight points to eclipse Paula Habel’s (2000-2003) BSC career mark of 336. Jones moved into third place on Bridgewater’s all-time goal scoring list as she now has 185 tallies in just three seasons with the Bears.
Bridgewater outshot Plymouth by a margin of 35-22, and held a 17-14 edge in draw controls. Senior netminder Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) turned aside nine shots, including the 400th save of her career, to register her eighth win of the season and 31st in a BSC uniform. Griffin is only the second goaltender in BSC women’s lacrosse history to record 400 or more saves, and trails only Jo-Ellen Murgo (34 wins from 1998 to 2000) in career victories.
Senior attack Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY), junior midfielder Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) and sophomore attack Kristin White (Pelham, MA) each added two goals and an assist for the Bears, while junior midfielder Patricia Maloney (Walpole, MA) chipped in with a goal and two assists.
Junior defender Kasey Sheehan (Bridgewater, MA) was strong on the defensive end for Bridgewater as she caused three turnovers and notched four ground balls. The Bears kept an opponent under ten goals for the third straight game and fifth time this season.
Judd finished with three goals to lead the Panthers offensively while Davis recorded two goals and an assist. Senior midfielder Kerry D’Ambroise (Lowell, MA) also added two goals and an assist for Plymouth. Senior Morgan Lemmon (Gilford, NH) and sophomore Ally Baribault (Middle Haddam, CT) split the goaltending duties for the Panthers with Lemmon making eight saves and Baribault registering three.
Bridgewater State will travel to Elms College on Saturday for a noontime New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance matchup with the Blazers. Plymouth host Little East Conference foe Rhode Island College on Saturday at one.