Nine Goal First Quarter Eases Women’s Lacrosse Past Smith College

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (March 5, 2022) – Less than 48 hours from suffering their first loss of the season, the Western New England women's lacrosse team took down the hosting Smith College Pioneers on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 19-10. Anabella Arias netted four goals for Western New England, while notching one assist in the win. 

Records:

• Western New England: 2-1
• Smith College: 2-2

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears were able to explode early in the game on the offensive end, burying the Pioneers early in the contest. Western New England would get their first goal of the game from Emmy Burns, who was able to capitalize while a player up to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead, a lead WNE held for the remainder of the contest. Hannah Jarvis would score 26 seconds after the Burns tally on an assist from Ally Ferraro to increase WNE's lead to two. Burns grabbed her second goal of the game, third overall for the Golden Bears on the afternoon to take a 3-0 lead. Smith would bounce back for a goal to give the Pioneers their first tally of the game. Western New England would take exception to the Pioneers goal and would come back and rip off five goals in a row, all in the first quarter to take an 8-1 lead. Samantha Vitka, Reilly Miller (2), Kylie Buchanan, and Anabella Arias would convert on the offensive end for the Golden Bears to take an 8-1 lead. Smith and Western New England would close out the first quarter with a goal apiece, sending Western New England into a 9-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. 

Seven more goals were scored in the second quarter, as Western New England would collect four of those seven. Ally Hill would dial up her first of the season from Ferraro to give WNE a 10-3 lead. Smith would score the next two goals in the quarter to get the Golden Bears lead down to five, though three straight goals from Western New England would send the Golden Bears back to an eight-goal lead after 30 minutes of play. Arias (2) and Vitka would score down the stretch for the Golden Bears, giving WNE a 13-5 lead. 

Scoring would cool off in the second half as Western New England would have the contest well within their grasp. Faith Graveline would made two saves in 23:01 on the afternoon, while Riley Franzo and Emily Lake would also see action in the net for the Golden Bears. No goals were scored in the first ten minutes of the contest for either side. Smith was able to break the ice in the quarter when Reese Gittleman scored the sixth goal of the afternoon for the Pioneers. WNE would score three straight after the Pioneers tally as Burns, Buchanan, and Miller scored within two minutes of the third quarter to give WNE their biggest lead of the game, at ten goals. 

Arias, Vitka, and Ferraro would score in the fourth quarter for the Golden Bears to put the game away for Western New England as the Golden Bears would come out victorious for their second non-conference win of the season, taking down Smith College 19-10. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Western New England would outshoot the Pioneers 42-20 in the game, including 22-3 in the first 15 minutes of the contest. WNE took 32 shots in the first half, taking just ten in the second half. 
• WNE was successful in 5-6 clears on the afternoon and scooped in eight ground balls. The Golden Bears caused eight turnovers. 
• Anabella Arias scored four goals for Western New England on the afternoon as well as picking up one assist, leading WNE with five points. 
• Reilly Miller, Samantha Vitka, Kylie Buchanan, and Emmy Burns all scored three times for Western New England. Ally Ferraro tallied once while picking up two assists. 
• The trio of Faith Graveline, Riley Franzo, and Emily Lake combined for six saves, two each in the win. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England continues their road trip when they travel to Western Connecticut State University on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:00 pm. 
• Smith College hosts Connecticut College at 6:30 pm on the same date.