ENGLEWOOD, Fla. -- The Nazareth College women's lacrosse team withstood a valiant second half comeback attempt as the Golden Flyers held of the Bears of Bridgewater State University, 10-9, on Wednesday afternoon at SpringFling 2019 in Englewood, Florida.
The Golden Eagles improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Bears fall to 3-1.
Junior attack Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with two goals and a game-best four assists including the 100th helper of her career. McDonough, who became the fifth student-athlete in BSU women's lacrosse history to record 100 career assists, reached the milestone at the 10:56 mark of the first half as she set up a goal by senior midfielder Lisa Moynihan (Norwood, Mass.).
Senior midfielder Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) and junior attack Hayley White (Dracut, Mass.) added two goals apiece for the Bears.
Freshman midfielder Emma Robinson (Central Square, N.Y.) led all players with a game-high four goals, while sophomore attack Callahan Lyon (Tully, N.Y.) checked in with a pair of markers for the Golden Eagles.
Nazareth led 6-2 at the break and extended its lead to 8-3 with 22:28 remaining in the second half after back-to-back goals by Robinson and Lyon. A goal by Ettridge followed by consecutive strikes by White with McDonough assisting on all three tallies pulled the Bears to within 8-6 midway through the stanza.
A pair of Robinson markers sandwiched around an Ettridge goal made it a 10-7 game with 3:29 left to play. McDonough found the back of the net at the 2:15 mark and freshman attack Jacqueline DeLorey (Westwood, Mass.) pulled the Bears to within one, 10-9, with just 13 seconds showing on the scoreboard. Moynihan won the ensuing draw for Bridgewater State, but the Bears were unable to get a shot off before time expired as the Golden Eagles hung on for the victory.
Nazareth finished with a 26-21 shot advantage for the game, while Bridgewater held a 13-8 edge in draw controls. Moynihan led all players with a season-high six draws, while Ettridge notched three. Sophomore defender Vicki Arena (East Northport, N.Y.) recorded five draws to lead the way for the Golden Eagles.
Nazareth went just 2-for-7 in free position attempts, while the Bears finished 1-for-4.
Senior Brianna Rizzari (Rochester, Mass.) made seven saves to record her second win of the season between the pipes for the Golden Eagles. Junior netminder Hayley Barner (Westwood, Mass.) turned aside eight shots in the setback for Bridgewater State.
The Golden Eagles take on Westfield State University at SpringFling 2019 on Friday morning at ten. The Bears are off until next Wednesday when they travel to Wheaton College for a seven o'clock game with the Lyons.
Notes: McDonough joined Shannon Manning '10 (156 assists), Paula Habel '03 (152), Riley Cachelin '15 (152) and Courtney Lennon '11 (111) as members of the Bears' 100-assist club. Manning and Habel are both BSU Hall of Famers.