SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The Western New England University women's lacrosse team led by five goals at halftime on its way to a 15-8 victory over Bridgewater State University this afternoon in non-conference action at Golden Bear Stadium.
Senior Brooke Kumnick (Granby, Conn.) led Western New England with a game-high seven points (five goals, two assists), while classmates Taylor Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Ashley Brunner (Stratford, Conn.) and sophomore Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded six each.
Sophomore goalie Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) was impressive in the cage, registering a career-high 20 saves, including 13 in the second half. She also coralled a game-high eight ground balls.
The Bears were led by senior Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) and junior Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.), who recorded four points each with three goals and one assist. Junior Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) stopped 11 shots between the pipes for the visitors.
Western New England led 2-0 just over six minutes into the contest on goals by Scialdone and Kumnick, but Bridgewater State was able to pull even at the 16:43 mark as Geary found the back of the net twice.
The Golden Bears answered with a 6-0 run, however, opening up an 8-2 lead with 3:39 remaining in the first half, and did not let their advantage dip below four for the remainder of the game. Winer fueled the surge, scoring two goals and assisting on three others.
Renauld halted the run with her 19th goal of the season on a feed from Geary with 2:55 left in the half, and the junior struck again with 54 seconds on the clock, cutting the Bears' deficit to four (8-4). Western New England led 9-4 at the break as Kumnick connected with Scialdone just 14 seconds later.
The two teams traded goals early in the second half, with Bridgewater State pulling back to within four (11-7) on Geary's third of the contest at the 14:13 mark. Scialdone netted her 40th of the season less than a minute later, however, sparking a decisive 4-0 run that stretched Western New England's lead to eight (15-7) with 3:29 remaining. Renauld added a late goal for the visitors, her tean-leading 21st of the season, bringing the final margin to seven.
Bridgewater held a 38-29 shot advantage for the game as well as the edge in both ground balls (31-24) and draw controls (15-10). Ten of the BSU's 38 shots, however, were off target, and the Bears' also went 0-for-8 in free position attempts.
Geary and Scialdone notched five draws apiece to lead all players. Geary also finished with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Both teams return to action on Saturday. The Golden Bears (7-2) host Wentworth at 1 p.m., while Bridgewater State (4-2) heads back on the road to face MASCAC rival Fitchburg State at 7:30 p.m.
Notes: With her three goals, Geary moved past BSU Hall of Famer Paula Habel (184 goals) into sixth place on the Bears' all-time goal-scoring list. Geary now has 185 goals in four seasons at Bridgewater State….Forman increased her career save total to 331 as she moved into fifth place on the Bears' all-time list, surpassing Danielle Bean who notched 324 saves in two seasons (2001-2002).