BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) tallied three goals and five assists to lead the Bridgewater State College Bears to a key 19-11 New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) victory over Westfield State College on Tuesday afternoon in Bridgewater.
With the win, the Bears pull into a first place tie in the NEWLA standings along with Westfield and Castleton State College. Bridgewater is now 11-4 on the season and 5-1 in the Alliance, while Westfield falls to 10-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Bears have won seven straight games and eight of their last nine.
Bridgewater used the strength of five straight goals midway through the first half to take a 9-2 advantage into the intermission. Junior midfielder Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) paced the Bears with three goals in the opening stanza, while Manning added a goal and three assists.
BSC led 15-7 at the halfway point of the second period when Westfield put together a four-goal run to pull to within 15-11 with ten minutes remaining in the game. The Owls, however, would not score again as Lennon stopped the run with her fourth marker of the afternoon at the 7:45 mark, followed by a Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) goal just 45 second later. Bridgewater would score twice in the final minute to round out the scoring.
Bridgewater outshot Westfield by a margin of 41-23, while the Bears also held a 20-11 advantage in draw controls.
Along with her game-high eight points, Manning added four draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Lennon and Jones both finished with six points on four goals and two assists. Lennon also notched three draws, three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Senior Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) turned aside seven shots to pick up the win in net for the Bears as she tied Jo-Ellen Murgo's all-time program mark of 34 career goaltending victories.
Sophomore attack Carla Keeley (Feeding Hills, MA) paced the Owls with three goals and an assists, while freshman attack Maura Stack (Wilbraham, MA) added three goals. Rookie goaltender Britta Anderson (Holden, MA) was busy between the pipes for Westfield as she made 16 saves.
Bridgewater wraps up the regular season with a pair of home games later this week. The Bears take on Eastern Connecticut State University on Thursday at 4:00 PM, followed by a noontime game versus NEWLA foe Framingham State College on Saturday. Westfield hosts Elms College in a conference matchup on Saturday evening at 6 PM.