Golden Bears Cruise to 19-9 Victory at Nichols

Canning & Breen record six points each for Western New England 

DUDLEY, Mass. (April 11, 2017) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team opened up a 9-1 first half lead and didn't look back on its way to a 19-9 victory over Nichols College on Tuesday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Vendetti Field.

Top Performers
• Junior Rachel Canning (Lincoln Park, N.J.) and sophomore Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with six points each, while freshman Shannen Barrett (Rensselaer, N.Y.) added five points, five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• Sophomore Rebecca Allen (Franklin, Mass.) secured a team-high six draw controls, and junior goalie Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) finished with ten saves.

• Senior Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) powered the Nichols offense with five goals and one assist.

Game Review
• Canning opened the scoring at the 23:08 mark of the first half and gave the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead just 14 seconds later.
• Junior Melissa LaFleur (Chicopee, Mass.) got the Bison on the board with 21:24 on the clock, but Western New England responded with a 7-0 run that featured five different goal scorers.
• The Golden Bears took a 10-3 lead into halftime after junior Lauren Hurley (St. James, N.Y.) scored on a feed from classmate Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) in the closing seconds of the period.
• Goals by Marion and junior Lindsay O'Connell (Danvers, Mass.) in the first minute of the second half had the Bison within five (10-5), but that would be as close as they got.
• Canning scored on a free position shot at the 28:14 mark, sparking a 4-0 run that saw Western New England stretch its lead back to nine (14-5) with 18:29 remaining.
• Freshman Kierstyn Kahler (Rome, N.Y.) netted her first career goal late in regulation, capping the scoring for the Golden Bears.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Nichols 42-29 and held a 24-23 edge in ground balls.
• Ten different Golden Bears recorded at least one point in the contest, with seven players posting multi-point efforts.
• Canning leads Western New England with 47 points this season (36 goals, 11 assists).

Up Next
Western New England (5-8, 2-3 CCC) will be on the road Thursday night for a non-conference contest at Western Connecticut State, while Nichols (3-10, 1-5 CCC) travels to Thomas (Maine) on Saturday.