Western New England Cruises to 16-6 Win over Gordon

Breen tallies 7 points as Golden Bears climb back above .500 (7-6)

WENHAM, Mass. (April 10, 2019) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team cruised to a 16-6 victory over Gordon College on Wednesday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Brigham Complex.

Top Performers
Senior attack Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) powered the Western New England offense with a game-high seven points, scoring four goals to go with three assists.

Junior Ariella Ruggiero (Valhalla, N.Y.) also tallied four goals, while sophomore Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) finished with two goals and two assists.

Sophomore goalie Kaitlyn Marchant (Londonderry, N.H.) was solid in the cage, stopping nine of the 13 shots that came her way.

Gordon was led by senior attack Olivia McCarrick (Glen Burnie, Md.), who produced four points with three goals and one assist.

Game Review
Western New England took control early as Breen scored twice over the opening 6:21 of the contest with a goal from freshman Liz Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) in between.

After McCarrick got the Fighting Scots on the board at the 20:52 mark, the Golden Bears responded with another 3-0 spurt, as Breen (15:24), Ruggiero (13:50) and Miller (12:37) all found the back of the net to extend Western New England's advantage to 6-1.

McCarrick notched her second goal of the game with 11:51 left in the half, but the Golden Bears closed out the frame with goals from junior Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) and Ruggiero, both assisted by Breen, to open up an 8-2 cushion heading into the break.

Western New England continued to build on its lead early in the second half, as Ruby, Ruggiero and Breen all scored to increase the margin to nine (11-2).

Freshman Brenna Otte (Grand Rapids, Mich.) ended Gordon's long scoring drought at the 17:17 mark, but the home team was unable to get closer than eight goals the rest of the way, as Western New England went on to post a 10-goal triumph.  

Notes
• Western New England outshot Gordon 34-25 and held a 20-15 edge in ground balls.
• The Fighting Scots won the draw control battle, 13-11. Mazza secured a team-high four draws for the Golden Bears.
• Breen has recorded 36 points (29 goals, 7 assists) this season, good for second on the team.

Up Next
Western New England (7-6, 3-2 CCC) returns home to face Endicott on Saturday, while Gordon (3-10, 2-4 CCC) hosts the University of New England next Tuesday.