Golden Bears Defeat Gordon in Regular Season Finale, 16-15

Western New England earns third seed in CCC Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 24, 2018) - The Western New England University women's lacrosse team secured a home game in the first round of the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament with a 16-15 victory over Gordon College on Tuesday evening at Golden Bear Stadium. 

Top Performers 
• Sophomore Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) and freshman Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) led the Golden Bears offensively, as Ruby compiled a career-high ten points with six goals and four assists, and Miller added five goals. 
• Junior Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) chipped in with three goals and one assist, while sophomore Lindsey Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.) secured a team-high six draws. 

• Gordon freshman Katelyn Dyer (Plainfield, N.J.) scored four goals to go with one assist, four draws and three ground balls.
• Junior Paige Thompson (West Chester, Pa.) recorded six points (four goals, two assists), while classmate Olivia McCarrick (Glen Burnie, Md.) finished with two goals, three assists, four draws, three ground balls and three caused turnovers. 

Game Review
Trailing 9-6 at halftime, Western New England opened the second period with four straight goals to claim a 10-9 edge with 24:10 remaining in the contest. Ruby fueled the surge, as she scored three times and assisted on sophomore Ariella Ruggiero's (Valhalla, N.Y.) goal at the 24:36 mark. 

The Golden Bears used a 3-0 run later in the half, which featured goals from Breen, Miller and sophomore Marissa Staffu (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), to open up a 14-11 advantage with 14:28 to play. 

Gordon answered with a 3-0 spurt of its own, however, tying the game when Thompson buried a free position attempt with just under seven minutes on the clock. 

Miller put the Golden Bears back ahead with an unassisted strike just 52 seconds later, before making it a two-goal game (16-14) when she scored on a free position shot at the 4:03 mark. 

Western New England was able to limit Gordon to just one goal the rest of the way, as Dyer scored on a feed from McCarrick with 1:29 to go.  

The Fighting Scots got off to a strong start in the first half, as they built a 6-3 lead over the first 20 minutes of play with the help of two goals each from Thompson and freshman Greta Moore (Wheaton, Ill.). Gordon led by the same margin at the break after the two teams traded goals over the final 9:30 of the half. 

Notes
• The Golden Bears have won three straight one-goal games, with a 14-13 win over Western Connecticut last Wednesday and a 12-11 win at Salve Regina on Saturday leading up to Tuesday's contest.
• Ruby has set new career-highs for points in two consecutive games, as she tallied six against the Seahawks with four goals and two assists.
• Ruby and Miller rank second and third on the team with 42 and 35 points, respectively. 

Up Next
Western New England (7-10, 5-3 CCC), which earned the third seed in the CCC Tournament, will host No. 6 seed University of New England in a first round contest on Saturday at 1 p.m. Fifth-seeded Gordon (7-10, 4-4 CCC) will be on the road at No. 4 seed Salve Regina on Saturday at a time to be determined.