Golden Bears Open CCC Play with 21-10 Victory at Wentworth

Western New England extends winning streak to four games

BOSTON, Mass. (March 24, 2019) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team opened Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play with a 21-10 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon at Sweeney Field.

Top Performers
Sophomore attack Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) matched her career-high with seven points (six goals, one assist) to pace the Golden Bears offensively, and she was also tied for the team lead with five ground balls.

Freshman attack Hannah Jarvis (Westfield, Mass.) produced five points (four goals, one assist), while senior Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) and freshman Liz Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) both recorded four.   

Sophomore goalie Kaitlyn Marchant (Londonderry, N.H.) saved nine of the 15 shots she faced in just under 51 minutes in the cage.

Wentworth was led by senior Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.), who accounted for six of the Leopards' ten goals and posted a game-high eight draw controls.

Game Review
Jarvis scored twice in the first 2:13 of the contest and Miller added a goal as Western New England opened up an early 3-0 lead.

Wentworth cut its deficit to one (3-2) following goals from freshman Sarah Galan (Colchester, Conn.) and Paradis, who converted a free position attempt at the 26:40 mark.

The Golden Bears restored their three-score advantage as Breen (21:48) and Jarvis (17:13) both found the back of the net, but Wentworth utilized an unassisted tally from Paradis (15:58) to keep it close.

Just past the midpoint of the half, Miller scored on a feed from sophomore Ashley Hudson (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) to spark a 4-0 Western New England run that saw the visitors extend their lead to six (9-3) with 8:53 on the clock.

The Golden Bears would lead by the same margin (11-5) at the break after Miller and freshman Samantha Vitka (Stratford, Conn.) both scored late in the half.

Early in the second half, Western New England used goals from Mazza and Vitka to increase the advantage to 12-5.

Paradis completed her hat trick at the 26:05 mark, but Wentworth would not score again for almost 17 minutes.

A Jarvis free position goal with 22:27 remaining marked the start an 8-0 Western New England surge over the next 13 minutes as the Golden Bears put the game out of reach. Miller had three goals during the decisive span, which culminated in freshman Madisyn Crotta's (West Haven, Conn.) first career tally with 9:33 to play.

The Leopards ended the game with a 4-0 run, which included three more goals from Paradis, to cut the final margin to 11. 

Notes
• Western New England has now won four straight games, the longest winning streak for the Golden Bears since the 2016 campaign.
• The loss for Wentworth snaps the Leopards' season-opening six-game winning streak.
• The Golden Bears outshot the Leopards 41-27 and held a 24-12 advantage in ground balls.

Up Next
Western New England (4-3, 1-0 CCC) returns home to host Roger Williams on Wednesday, while Wentworth (6-1, 0-1 CCC) is back in action on Thursday at Curry.