Western New England Surges Past Farmingdale State in Second Half En Route to 19-13 Victory

Breen records 100^th career point in win

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (March 19, 2019) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team used a 10-1 second-half run to pull away from Farmingdale State College en route to a 19-13 victory on Tuesday morning at Dever Park.

Top Performers
Western New England was led offensively by junior attack Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) and sophomore midfielder Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.), who recorded a combined 13 points. Ruby scored four goals and added two assists, while Miller produced a career-high seven points with two goals and five assists.

Senior attack Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) scored four goals, in the process eclipsing 100 career points, and freshman midfielder Samantha Vitka (Stratford, Conn.) chipped in with two goals and two assists.

Junior defender Madison Lemire (Ellington, Conn.) totaled team-highs in both draw controls (seven) and caused turnovers (four), while sophomore goalie Kaitlyn Marchant (Londonderry, N.H.) made ten saves on 20 shots.

Farmingdale State junior midfielder Courtney Gendels (Wantagh, N.Y.) sparked the Rams' offense with a team-high seven points on six goals and one assist.

Senior attack Jessica Spina (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) recorded three points (two goals, one assist), and sophomore Deanna Iannotta (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) contributed two goals.

Game Review
Farmingdale State, which trailed 7-5 at halftime, evened the score less than three minutes into the second half with goals from Ianotta (28:02) and Gendels (27:09).

The Rams were still within one (9-8) after sophomore Haley Perez's (Smithtown, N.Y.) unassisted tally at the 21:52 mark, but Western New England took control of the contest after that point.

Miller scored on a feed from Vitka with just under 20 minutes to play, sparking a 6-0 Western New England run that saw the Golden Bears extend their lead to seven (15-8) with 16:45 on the clock.

Gendels set up Spina at the 15:19 mark to end Western New England's run, but the Golden Bears answered with four straight goals to open up a 19-9 cushion with 10:16 remaining.

The Rams ended the game with four unanswered goals, including two from Gendels, to cut the final margin to six.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Farmingdale State 40-25 and held a 34-29 advantage in ground balls.
• After going 0-for-3 on their free position shots over the first 30 minutes of play, the Golden Bears converted 3-of-6 free position attempts in the second half.
• With her four-point effort, Breen became the 24^th player in program history to record 100+ points.

Up Next
Western New England (2-3) plays its second of two games in Florida on Friday morning against Calvin College. Farmingdale State (0-6) will also face Calvin on Wednesday night.