NORTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) tallied four goals and an assist, while junior attack Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) notched two goals and three assists, to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to a 10-9 non-conference victory over Wheaton College on Wednesday night at Nordin Field.
The Bears improve to 4-1 on the season, while the host Lyons fall to 2-4.
Ettridge and McDonough had a hand in eight of Bridgewater's ten goals. Ettridge also became the 13th student-athlete in BSU women's lacrosse history to reach the 200-point milestone as she now has 203 points in her career.
Junior attack Hayley White (Dracut, Mass.) also scored twice for the Bears, while freshman attack Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.) dished out three assists.
Junior attack Lilly Callahan (Wilbraham, Mass.) paced Wheaton with four goals. Fellow junior Kyra Schwartzman (Kennebunk, Maine) added three goals for the Lyons, while classmate Molly Covarrubias (Framingham, Mass.) registered four assists.
Four different Bears scored in the first half as Bridgewater led 4-2 at the break. Goals by White and Ettridge to open the second half extended the BSU advantage to four with 24:11 remaining in the game.
The score stayed that way until the clock ticked under 20 minutes. Schwartzman found the back of the net at 19:33 to pull the Lyons to within three. Callahan then cut the deficit to 6-4 at the 16-minute mark.
Just 40 seconds later, Ettridge jumpstarted a 4-0 run as Bridgewater appeared to take control of the game. Two of the goals during the run came while the Bears were shorthanded. Ettridge capped off the spurt with her fourth marker of the game with 9:15 showing on the scoreboard.
Trailing 10-4, the Lyons came roaring back scoring five times in a span of 4:28 to make it a one-goal game (10-9) with just over two minutes left to play. Callahan scored twice during the five-goal outburst.
Wheaton won the ensuing draw and had a chance to tie the game, but a shot by Covarrubias with 53 seconds remaining was turned aside by BSU netminder Hayley Barner (Westwood, Mass.). Following a timeout, the Bears were able to run out the clock as they held on for the 10-9 win.
Barner finished with a season-high 12 saves as she posted her fourth win of the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Jena Casman (Woodbridge, Conn.) turned aside ten shots in the setback for the Lyons.
Wheaton held a 30-24 shot advantage for the game, while Bridgewater finished with a 13-8 edge in draw controls, McDonough led all players with eight draws.
The Bears are off until next Tuesday (Mar. 26) when they travel to Johnson & Wales University for a four o'clock game with the Wildcats. The Lyons open New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday (1:00 PM) at home against Mount Holyoke College.