Strong Second Half Lifts Bridgewater State to 18-8 Victory over Western New England

Bears outscore Golden Bears 12-2 over final 30 minutes

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 29, 2018) – A strong second half performance lifted the Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to an 18-8 victory over Western New England University on Thursday afternoon in non-conference action at Golden Bear Stadium. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) and freshman Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) scored two goals each for Western New England, while freshman Ashley Hudson (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) contributed a goal and an assist.
• Junior defender Rebecca Allen (Franklin, Mass.) collected three ground balls and caused a team-high three turnovers.

• Sophomore attack Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) powered the Bridgewater State offense, as she scored a career-best eight goals and matched her career-high with ten points to go with seven draw controls.
• Senior Gabby Reinold (Braintree, Mass.) and junior Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) chipped in with three goals each, while junior Lisa Moynihan (Norwood, Mass.) compiled seven draw controls, six ground balls, and four caused turnovers.

Game Review
Bridgewater State opened up a 4-1 advantage midway through the first half with the help of two goals from McDonough.

Western New England closed the gap to one (4-3) on Miller's unassisted strike with 10:58 remaining in the half, before posting a 3-0 run later in the half that culminated in a go-ahead (6-5) goal by Ruby with 2:37 on the clock.

Reinold scored on a feed from senior Brooke Buckner (Foxboro, Mass.) just under a minute later as the Bears tied the contest at 6-6 heading into the break.

Bridgewater State pulled ahead for good (8-6) with goals by Reinold (27:56) and senior Haley Riley (Wakefield, Mass.) (26:25) early in the second half.

After sophomore Kaitlyn Hutter (Stamford, Conn.) buried a free position goal to cut the Golden Bears' deficit to one at the 24:38 mark, McDonough scored for Bridgewater State two minutes later, sparking a 7-0 run that saw the visitors establish a 15-7 cushion with 11:35 remaining.

Reilly tallied a free position goal to cap the scoring for Western New England with 7:06 to play, before the Bears added three late goals to extend the final margin to ten.

Notes
• Bridgewater State outshot Western New England 36-19 and held a 20-8 advantage in draw controls.
• Ruby has scored multiple goals in each of the last four contests and now ranks third on the team with nine this season.

Up Next
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as Western New England (1-7) resumes CCC play at the University of New England, and Bridgewater State (6-2) travels to MCLA.