By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women’s lacrosse team has had four different coaches in four seasons since 2012.
Former Bears standout Paula Habel ran the program in ’12, Erika Smith returned to a position she held for six years in 2013, Holly Drown was the head coach in 2014 and Gina Riitano took over last August.
Through all the changes, though, BSU has maintained its status as conference champions and is headed to the NCAA Division 3 tournament for a sixth consecutive year.
The Bears (12-8) will be in Brunswick, Maine, on Saturday afternoon to face Saint Joseph’s College (17-1) at Bowdoin College.
BSU enters the NCAAs with a six-game winning streak, three of the victories coming in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament that it won on Saturday, 13-12, in overtime at Westfield State.
The Bears have won eight straight conference tourney titles (three MASCAC, five New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance).
After starting this season 3-4, the Bears began heading in the right direction. The turning point came following a 12-11 loss to Fitchburg State on March 28, marking the first defeat to a MASCAC opponent after 57 straight wins.
“We had to sit down and re-evaluate what was going on after that,’’ said Riitano. “We had a little setback early in the season when we lost our first conference game in a bunch of years and that really weighed on the team.
“We put it behind us and came out firing. That was a time for us to reflect. It was a tough awakening. But I didn’t doubt the team for a second. We peaked at the right time, towards the end of the season, and now things are clicking for us.’’
Riitano, who played at American University and Syracuse, singles out an April 18 road win over Salem State on April 18 as getting BSU ready for the stretch run.
“The mentality of the team was, ‘This is time, there’s no second chances, we really need to bring it,’ and they did,’’ she said. “When we went up to Salem State we had a really good game and ever since then, everything clicked.
“Passes were complete, the transition was sensational. So many people scored that game it was like, wow, we can do that.’’
The Bears have used a potent offense to get back into the NCAAs with playmaker Riley Cachelin leading the way with 65 assists to go with 25 goals.
Junior Lauren Geary is having one of the most productive goal-scoring seasons in school history with 72 to go with 12 assists while Melissa Renauld and Marissa Yowell have 54 goals apiece and Alex King has 45 goals and 25 assists.
“We’re definitely an offensive-minded team,’’ said Riitano. “We feel comfortable putting up 15-plus goals, which is pretty high in our sport. They just shoot to the very end. It’s an exciting team.’’
While BSU has qualified for the NCAAs six straight years, Saint Joseph’s is making its national tourney debut. The program has been in existence since 2008.
The Monks earned an automatic bid by winning the Great Northeast Athletic Conference title over Lasell College, 10-3.
They have won 17 straight games since opening the season with a 15-12 loss to the University of New England.
The Bears are 0-6 in NCAA tourney games and lost to Amherst, 20-4, last season.
“We put in a lot of hard work to get here,’’ said Geary. “We can’t lose now.’’
Said Riitano of her players: “They’re thrilled. We had the selection show the other night and we were all like kids on Christmas.’’
The BSU-Saint Joseph’s winner plays host and fifth-ranked Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon.