BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University held off #5 Fitchburg State University, 14-12, in the opening round of the 2024 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Mazzaferro Field.
The Bears (8-10) advance to the MASCAC Tournament semifinals and will take on top-seeded Framingham State University on Thursday night at seven o'clock from Framingham's Maple Street Field.
The Falcons end the season with an overall record of 7-11.
Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with five goals and two assists with six draw controls. McIntyre became the fifth player in program history to reach the 200-draw control milestone (201).
The Bears also received three goals and two assists from Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) as well as two goals and three helpers from Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, Mass.). Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) added a goal and two assists to go along with a career-high 12 draw controls.
The Bears outshot the Falcons 26-9 in the first half but held just a 10-7 lead at the break. Fitchburg goalkeeper Cailtin Persson (Worcester, Mass.) made ten saves over the first 30 minutes to keep the game close.
McIntyre scored three first-half goals for the hosts while Gonsalves and Sylvia added two apiece. Jessica St. George (Dracut, Mass.) and Nicole Orlowski (Ellington, Conn.) each scored twice in the first half to pace the visitors.
The Falcons, who tallied the final two goals of the second quarter, picked up right where they left off outscoring the Bears 5-1 over the first 20 minutes of the second half capped off by back-to-back goals from Orlowski. Orlowski's goal at the 10:23 mark of the fourth quarter gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 12-11.
The Bears, however, battled back as McIntyre potted an unassisted goal with 6:05 remaining to knot the score at 12-12.
Bridgewater won the ensuing draw and the two teams exchanged turnovers before the Falcons were whistled for a yellow card to give the Bears the player advantage. Bridgewater capitalized as McIntyre set up Herrington for what proved to be the game-winning goal with 4:21 showing on the scoreboard.
After another win on the draw, Sylvia added an insurance goal off an assist from Gonsalves with 3:01 left to play to cap off the scoring.
Fitchburg had a chance to make it a one-goal game with just under a minute remaining, but BSU keeper Brooke La Torra (Oak Park, Calif.) made a clutch save to thwart the Falcons' comeback bid.
La Torra made four saves in 30 minutes of action to pick up her fourth win of the season. Laura Giovaniello (Walpole, Mass) also played 30 minutes between the pipes for the Bears and turned aside three shots.
Persson finished with an impressive 17 saves for the visitors.
Bridgewater held a 42-24 shot advantage for the game as well as a 20-10 edge in draw controls. The Bears were also 15-for-17 on clear attempts while the Falcons went 18-for-26 on the clear. Neither squad faired well on free position atttempts. Bridgewater converted just 1 of 4 off the free position and Fitchburg went 2-for-6.
The two teams combined for 13 cards with six of those coming in the fourth quarter.
George paced the Fitchburg offense with five goals, while Orlowski notched four goals and a pair of assists. Alexis Raymond (Tewksbury, Mass.) added a goal and five assists for the Falcons.
Notes: Bridgewater State holds a 24-1 lead in the all-time series…The Bears have never lost to the Falcons in conference tournament play. The two teams have meet six times in the MASCAC Tournament (2013-2017, 2024) and twice in the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) Tournament (2010, 2012) with the first seven matchups all coming in the semifinal round…McIntyre now has 93 goals in her career…. Victoria McDonough (2017-20), Taylor Clancy (2011-14) and BSU Hall of Famers Lauren Geary (2013-16) and Shannon Manning (2007-10) all recorded over 200 draw controls for the Bears with Geary leading the way with an impressive 605.