Western New England Drops CCC Opener at Gordon, 12-10

Canning records career-high six points for Golden Bears

WENHAM, Mass. (March 28, 2017) – Junior Rachel Canning (Lincoln Park, N.J.) registered a career-high six points, but the Western New England University women's lacrosse team dropped its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener to Gordon College, 12-10, on Tuesday afternoon at the Brigham Athletic Complex.

Top Performers                                                                                                          
• Canning powered the Western New England offense with her six-point effort, which included four goals and two assists to go with one ground ball, one draw control and a caused turnover.
• Junior Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) posted her second consecutive multi-goal performance and third overall this season, as she recorded a hat trick on seven shots.
• Graduate midfielder Emma Norden (Belchertown, Mass.) had a strong all-around game with two points (one goal, one assist), a team-high four ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers.

• Sophomore Olivia McCarrick (Glen Burnie, Md.) led a balanced Gordon offense with four points (three goals, one assist), while seniors Caroline Walton (Irvine, Calif.), Anna Rourke (Hamilton, Mass.) and MC Aston (Greenwich, N.Y.) tallied three goals each. Walton and Aston also combined for 11 draw controls and three caused turnovers.

Game Review
• Early goals by McCarrick and Walton had Gordon ahead 2-0 early, before Western New England used a 3-0 run with free position goals from Canning and Norden to claim their first lead at the 16:50 mark.
• Rourke equalized for the Fighting Scots with 14:15 remaining in the half and the teams traded goals the rest of the way, with Winer tallying three for the Golden Bears. Rourke scored on a feed from McCarrick with 5:10 on the clock to knot the score at 6-6 heading into the break.
• The back and forth continued in the second half as Aston netted a free position shot at the 25:55 mark to give the home team a 7-6 edge, before Canning and freshman Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) followed with goals to put Western New England back in front.
• The lead would change hands one final time, as a 2-0 Gordon run with goals from Walton and Aston allowed the Fighting Scots to claim a 9-8 advantage. Canning recorded her third goal of the game with 11:20 remaining to tie the score at 9-9, but Gordon took control down the stretch. McCarrick bookended Gordon's decisive 3-0 run with goals at 10:51 and 4:58, staking the Fighting Scots to a 12-9 cushion.
• Canning added a late goal, but the Golden Bears were unable to recover from their deficit as Gordon held on for the win.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Gordon 31-24 and held a 17-16 edge in ground balls.
• Gordon's win marks its first over the Golden Bears since the 2013 campaign.

Up Next
Western New England (2-6, 0-1 CCC) travels to Bridgewater State for a non-conference contest on Thursday night, while Gordon (6-3, 2-0 CCC) hosts Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon.