Photo by Vaughn Winchell (Insight Studios)

Box Score | ECAC New England Tournament Bracket

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. --- The top-seeded Bridgewater State College women's lacrosse team scored five unanswered goals in overtime to defeat number four seed Keene State College, 18-13, in the semifinal round of the 2008 ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Swenson Field.

BSC advances to the championship game which will be held at noontime on Sunday at BSC's Swenson Field.  The Bears will take on third-seeded Western New England College.  WNEC knocked off second-seeded Roger Williams University, 13-7, in the other semifinal matchup. 

With the win, the Bears improve to 15-4 which is a new program record for wins in a season. The original mark of 14 was set in 1999. The Owls wrap up their 2008 campaign with a record of 13-8.

Keene State nursed an 8-6 lead going into the intermission. Bridgewater came out of the break and held the Owls scoreless over the first 16 ½ minutes of the second half.  BSC rattled off the first four goals of the half to take a 10-8 advantage with two goals coming from sophomore attack Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY).

After freshman midfielder Jenny Lillis (West Islip, NY) tallied a marker with 13:31 remaining to pull the Owls to within one (10-9), the Bears defense tightened up again as they held the Owls scoreless for the next four minutes of play.  Freshman attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) scored the next two goals, before freshman attack Jamie Albert (Southington, CT) cut the deficit to 12-10 with a free position goal with 9:36 left on the clock.

With Bridgewater State leading 13-10 following a DeMaio goal with 4:41 remaining, Keene State stormed back on a pair of goals nine seconds apart by Lillis and senior midfielder Andrea Mitchell (Bow, NH).  Freshman midfielder Emily Persano (Somers, CT) then sent the game into overtime as she notched a free position goal with only 37 seconds left.  

In overtime, senior midfielder Lauryn Serratore (Norwood, MA) scored a pair of goals including the game-winner as the Bears outscored the Owls 5-0 in the OT session. Jones also scored twice in overtime while DeMaio added a goal.

DeMaio paced the Bears as she finished with six goals and two assists for eight points.  Jones tallied five goals while also adding an assist as she now has 64 goals on the season.  The BSC women's lacrosse record for goals in a season is 65 by Ann Silvia in 1999.  Freshman attack Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) chipped in with a goal and three assists while Serratore finished with two goals, an assist and a game-high nine draw controls.

Senior defender Heather Anza (Weston, MA) ended the game with nine ground balls and eight caused turnovers.  Sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) had a great all-around game with two goals, five ground balls and five caused turnovers.

For the Owls, Persano led the way with a team-best three goals to go along with three caused turnovers, four draw controls and nine ground balls. Lillis, senior attacker Michelle Mazzotta (Cromwell, CT), sophomore midfielder Dene Tully (Peabody, MA) and freshman attacker Lauren Sawyer (Westbrook, ME) each ended the game scoring two goals apiece.

Both netminders were outstanding as they each tallied double-digit save figures. Sophomore Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) picked up the win between the pipes for BSC as she finished with 12 saves while her Keene State counterpart Jen Gearing (Westfield, MA) registered 16 stops and seven ground balls.

The Bears outshot the Owls 44-32 while also holding the edge in caused turnovers (21-9) and draw controls (21-11). Keene State finished with a slight advantage in ground balls (37-33).