Golden Bears Rally Late Before Edging Salve Regina in Double Overtime, 12-11

Ruby nets game-winner as WNE improves to 4-3 in CCC play

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (April 21, 2018) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team erased a two-goal deficit late in regulation before edging Salve Regina University in double overtime, 12-11, on Saturday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Gaudet Field. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with a career-high six points (four goals, two assists) to go with six draw controls and two ground balls. Ruby played a key role in the late comeback as she factored into both of Western New England's goals over the final 2:19 of the second half, before scoring the game-winner in the second overtime period.
• Sophomore Lindsey Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.) registered a hat trick and collected five ground balls, while freshman Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) chipped in with two goals.
• Senior goalie Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) matched her career-high with 20 saves in the cage, with 12 coming in the second half.

• Salve Regina was led by sophomore Maddie Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.), who fueled the offense with five goals and one assist.
• Sophomore Kiley Anderson (East Greenwich, R.I.) scored three goals, while junior Olivia Slysz (South Hadley, Mass.) contributed a goal and two assists.
• Freshman goalie Christina Myers (River Edge, N.J.) finished with 17 saves on 27 shots.

Game Review
Western New England, which held a 7-6 edge at halftime, led by the same margin (9-8) after Miller scored on a feed from junior Rebecca Allen (Franklin, Mass.) midway through the second half.

Villareal equalized for Salve Regina with ten minutes to play in regulation, however, and Anderson put the Seahawks ahead 10-9 with 5:21 on the clock. Villareal scored again at the 3:04 mark to give the home team a late two-goal cushion.

Ruby helped the Golden Bears force overtime, as she cut Western New England's deficit in half with 2:19 to play, and then assisted on Phillips' game-tying goal just 31 seconds later.

After having both of her shots saved in the first six-minute overtime session, Ruby buried the game-winning goal 2:10 into the second extra period.

The two teams traded goals over the first 12:20 of the contest, with Salve Regina claiming its first lead (4-3) on an unassisted strike by Villareal midway through the period.

Western New England answered with a 3-0 run, which featured goals from sophomores Kaitlyn Hutter (Stamford, Conn.), Ariella Ruggiero (Valhalla, N.Y.) and Ruby, to open up up a 6-4 advantage with 12:56 left in the first half.

The Seahawks outscored the Golden Bears 2-1 over the final 12 minutes of play to close the gap to one at the break.

Notes
• Western New England has won four of its last five games and two straight one-goal contests.
• McFadden also made 20 saves in a 15-8 win over Bridgewater State on March 31, 2016 during her sophomore campaign.
• The Seahawks and Golden Bears were even with 36 shots each, while WNE held a 15-12 edge in draw controls.

Up Next
Both teams complete their regular season CCC schedules on Tuesday, as Western New England (6-10, 4-3 CCC) returns home to host Gordon and Salve Regina (5-8, 4-3 CCC) travels to Curry.