WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Bridgewater State College women's lacrosse team went on a 4-0 scoring run, tallying three of those goals on free position shots, as the Bears erased a 13-10 deficit and went on to defeat the defeat the Brewers of Vassar College, 14-13, in the season opener on Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In an evenly played game that featured six ties, the Brewers went ahead 13-10 with 11:15 to play in the contest on a goal by junior Allie Morgan. Bridgewater responded by scoring the game's final four goals by four different players from the 7:57 mark to the 3:19 mark, to take a 14-13 lead that held up over the final three plus minutes.
On the strength of five straight goals - two coming from sophomore attack Elizabeth Feltch and freshman midfielder Michaela Garrison, and a single tally by junior midfielder Sarah Warner - the Brewers erased a 9-7 deficit to take a 12-9 lead.
After the teams exchange goals, back-to-back markers from junior midfielder Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) and freshman midfielder Michelle Navoni (Mansfield, MA) pulled the Bears to within one at 13-12. Junior attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) tied things up at the 3:50 mark and senior midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) netted the game-winner just 31 seconds later.
The last three Bridgewater State goals all came on free position
shots against Vassar sophomore goalie Nicole
Engelhardt who made 12 saves in the game.
Bridgewater State senior goalie Meghan Griffin
(Billerica, MA) made 16 saves for the Bears.
Jones paced the Bears with five goals and an assist. Manning notched two goals and an assist as well as four draw controls. Lennon and Navoni tallied two goals and three draw controls apiece.
Manning's assist was the 100th of her career as she joins Paula Habel as the only two players in BSC women's lacrosse history to achieve the milestone. Habel recorded 152 assists from 2000 to 2003.
Junior Kasey Sheehan (Bridgewater, MA) anchored
the BSC defense as she recorded five caused turnovers and
two ground balls. Junior defender Erin
Quimby (Chelmsford, MA) caused three turnover to go along
with two draw controls. Quimby also scored for the
Bears.
Warner led the Brewers with four goals, followed by Garrison with
three goals and Morgan with two.
Vassar held a 12-6 advantage in ground balls as well as a
slight 15-14 edge in draws. The Brewers, however, were
just 3-for-13 in free position attempts while Bridgewater was
5-for-6.
Bridgewater State (1-0) will take on St. Lawrence University Tuesday at 7:00 PM, while Vassar (0-1) will face Drew University on Wednesday 11:00 AM.