Westfield State Pulls Away in Second Half as Golden Bears Fall to Owls, 16-5

Miller leads Western New England with three goals, Truenow adds goal and two assists

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 9, 2018) – Westfield State University pulled away from Western New England University in the second half on its way to a 16-5 victory over the Golden Bears on Friday evening in non-conference women's lacrosse action at Golden Bear Stadium. 

Top Performers
• Freshman attack Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) led the Western New England offense with the first hat trick of her career, while sophomore defender Olivia Truenow (Franklin, Mass.) also posted a three-point effort with a goal and two assists.

• Junior Sydney Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) and sophomore Sam Donohoe (Pepperell, Mass.) paced the Owls with three goals and one assist apiece.  
• Senior Rachel Testa (Westminster, Mass.), junior Alexa Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and sophomores Haley Mate (Melrose, Mass.) and Maddie Bartkus (Marshfield, Mass.) scored twice for Westfield State.

Game Review
Western New England, which trailed 5-3 following Miller's second goal with 5:06 remaining in the first half, faced a 6-3 deficit at the break as Lambert answered for the Owls 15 seconds later.

Westfield State took control of the contest with a 4-0 run to start the second half, which Lambert sparked with a goal 16 seconds into the frame. Tonelli converted a free position attempt 3:18 later, while Donohoe (24:39) and Mate (23:31) also scored during the run as the Owls opened up a 10-3 advantage.

Truenow cut Western New England's deficit to six (10-4) with her first career goal at the 22:47 mark, but Donohoe buried an unassisted tally 11 seconds later to restore the visitors' seven-score cushion.

Miller completed her hat trick with 19:06 remaining, before the Owls closed out the contest with five unanswered goals to stretch the final margin to 11.

Western New England got off to a solid start, as sophomore Lindsey Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.) made a strong move to the cage for her fifth goal of the season 42 seconds into the contest. Miller then scored on a feed from Truenow at the 25:03 mark as the Golden Bears led 2-0 early.

Junior Elizabeth Navoni (Mansfield, Mass.) got the Owls on the board with 18:41 to play in the opening period, starting a 5-0 Westfield State run that spanned over 12 minutes.

Notes
• Phillips and Miller are tied for the team lead with five goals each through four games this season.
• Freshman defender Danielle Skates (Berlin, Conn.) collected four ground balls and caused five turnovers.
• The Owls outshot the Golden Bears 42-12 and held a 19-4 advantage in draw controls.

Up Next
Western New England (0-4) will be off for the next nine days, before returning to action on Monday, March 19 with a non-conference contest against Worcester State in Florida. Westfield State (2-0) takes on Western Connecticut State in Florida on March 12.