BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team got into the win column as the Bears posted a 13-8 victory over the University of New England on Friday afternoon at UNE's Blue Bolt Field.
Junior attack Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, Mass.), junior midfielder Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) combined for 11 goals and two assists to lead the way for the Bears (1-2). Gonsalves tallied five points on four goals and an assist while McIntyre potted four goals and Sylvia contributed three goals and a helper.
UNE junior midfielder Barrie Guertin (Bow, N.H.) opened the scoring just over two minutes into the contest with a shorthanded goal. Guertin converted off an assist from freshman attack Emma Collingwood (Westfield, Mass.). Sylvia knotted the score at 1-1 with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter. With the Bears on the player advantage, Sylvia found the back of the net off a feed from sophomore attack Katie Lamothe (Dartmouth, Mass.).
Gonsalves scored her first goal of the season, converting off the free position at the 4:42 mark of the opening period. Just 28 seconds later, Gonsalves made it a 3-1 game with an unassisted tally.
An unassisted strike by junior attack Morgan White (Rochester, N.H.) at the 2:27 mark of the first quarter cut the UNE deficit to 3-2. Sylvia's unassisted marker just over a minute later regained the two-goal cushion for the Bears.
Gonsalves scored just 20 seconds into the second quarter and Sylvia set up McIntyre to make it a 6-2 game with 13:42 showing on the scoreboard.
UNE senior attack Kelsey Hartigan (Tyngsboro, Mass.) converted off the free position less than a minute later. Senior attack Abby McHallum (Medway, Mass.) followed with a player-advantage goal with sophomore attack Meagan Donovan (Scarborough, Maine) recording the assist, and Hartigan scored again off the free position to close the gap to 6-5 with ten minutes left to play until halftime.
Two goals from McIntyre sandwiched around a Donovan player-advantage strike made it an 8-6 game in favor of the visitors with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter. BSU senior attack Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) scored off the free position to cap off the first half scoring as the Bears headed to the break with a 9-6 lead.
Third quarter goals by Gonsalves, junior attack Katy Shaw (Centerville, Mass.) and McIntyre helped the Bears extend the lead to 12-7 heading into the final period. Gonsalves and McIntyre scored on the player advantage while Gonsalves also assisted on Shaw's strike. Donovan netted the Nor'easters' lone tally in the third period with junior midfielder Paige DeVries (Windham, N.H.) picking up the assist.
Sylvia and White exchanged goals in a low-scoring fourth quarter. Lamothe assisted on Sylvia's goal while White converted off the free position. Neither team found the back of the net over the final six minutes of the contest.
Bridgewater held a 29-20 shot advantage for the game as well as a14-9 edge in draw controls. The Bears also went 13-for-17 on clear attempts while the Nor'easters finished 14-for-21.
Sylvia led all players with seven draw controls while McIntrye and Shaw checked in with four and three, respectively. McIntyre also recorded four ground balls.
Senior goalkeeper Laura Giovaniello (Walpole, Mass.) made five saves to pick up her first win of the season between the pipes for Bridgewater State. Freshman netminder Jenna Trafford (Scarborough, Maine) turned aside 11 shots in the setback for UNE.
Bridgewater heads to San Juan, Puerto Rico next week for a pair of games. The Bears will take on Chatham on Thursday, March 7th and Rochester Institute on Saturday, March 9th. Both games are slated to get underway at 3:00 PM (ET). The Nor'easters (0-3) travel to Mesa, Arizona to take on Ohio Northern on Monday, March 11th and Northwestern (Minn.) on Tuesday, March 12th.