SALEM, Mass. – Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) netted six goals and Melissa Renauld (Framingham, MA) added five as the Bears of Bridgewater State cruised to a 19-8 victory over the Salem State Vikings in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday.
The Bears improve to 7-8 on the season, and 3-2 in the MASCAC. The host Vikings slip to 6-7 and 1-4 in conference.
Yowell opened the scoring twenty-five seconds into the contest. Alex King (Weymouth, Mass.) added another score less than a minute later as the Bears quickly led 2-0.
Erin Riley (Wakefield, Mass.) put Salem State on the board with a goal, but the Bears added three unanswered tallies by Yowell, Renauld and Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) to take a 5-1 lead.
A pair of Courtney Smith (Peabody, Mass.) markers sandwiched around a Brooke Buckner (Foxboro, Mass.) tally made the score 6-3 in favor of the Bears. Renauld regained the four-goal cushion at the 8:30 mark, but Kristine Conlon (Dracut, MA), Smith, and Riley scored three straight goals as the Vikings fought back to trail by just one, 7-6, with 2:38 remaining. Geary, however, changed the momentum with just 49 seconds on the clock as the Bears led 8-6 at the break.
Bridgewater carried the momentum into the second half. Renauld opened the attack by scoring the first three goals of the stanza as the Bears took a commanding 11-6 lead. A goal by Geary and two by Yowell capped off the 7-0 run and put the game out of reach.
The Bears continued to dominate play the rest of the way outscoring the Vikings 5-2 over the final 12 1/2 minutes.
Renauld added a pair of assists to her five goals as she tallied a game-high seven points. Renauld also recorded a season-high ten draw controls.
King finished with three goals and three assists, while Geary notched three goals and a helper as well as six ground balls and nine draws. Riley Cachelin (Westwood, Mass.) chipped in with a goal and three assists.
The Bears held a decided 20-9 advantage in draws as well as 32-24 edge in shots.
Smith had four goals for Salem State and Riley finished with two. Kelsey Russell (Arlington, Mass.) added three assists.
Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) earned the win in net for Bridgewater as she stopped 11 shots. Chyenne Jackson (Peabody, MA) made nine save for the Vikings in the loss.
The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Wednesday night at seven. The Vikings travel to Westfield State university, while the Bears host Framingham State University.
Notes: With her nine draws, Geary increased her career total to 403 as she became the first player in program history to reach the 400 milestone....Cachelin now has 45 assists on the season which is the fourth highest single-season total in team history.