Bridgewater Slips Past Owls in MASCAC Opener, 13-12

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team opened Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play with a 13-12 victory over defending champion Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon at Swenson Field.

The host Bears improve to 6-1 on the season and 1-0 in the MASCAC, while the visiting Owls fall to 2-6 overall and 0-1 on conference play.

Sophomore Emily Hiller (Marion, Mass.) potted a career-high five goals for Bridgewater State, while freshman attack Jacqueline DeLorey (Westwood, Mass.) notched a career-best three goals and four assists for seven points. Junior attack Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) added three goals and an assist for the Bears 

Senior midfielder Lucy Barrett (Williamstown, Mass.) paced Westfield State with four goals and an assist, while classmate Sydney Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) checked in with three goals and a helper. 

Trailing 7-5 at the break, Bridgewater State scored the first five goals of the second half to take a 10-7 lead with 20:53 remaining. DeLorey started the five-goal uprising 27 seconds into the period, while McDonough scored the final three goals of the spurt.

Lambert ended the run as she found the back of the net off the free position at the 20:33 mark, but BSU senior midfielder Lisa Moynihan (Norwood, Mass.) responded just 16 seconds later off an assist from DeLorey to give the Bears an 11-8 lead.

Barrett scored off the free position less than a minute later to cut the deficit to two (11-9). DeLorey, however, converted off the free position with the Bears shorthanded at the 16:16 mark to reclaim the three-goal advantage.

Back-to-back tallies by Barrett, including one from the free position, pulled the Owls to within a goal with 11:06 showing on the scoreboard. Hiller's free position strike with just under nine minutes remaining upped the BSU advantage to 13-11.

Westfield senior attack Alexa Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) buried a shot off an assist from Barrett at the 7:30 mark to close the gap to 13-12. Tonelli finished with two goals on the afternoon including the 100^th of her career.

The Owls attempted five shots, including three off the free position, over the final seven minutes of the contest, but could not pot the equalizer. Westfield rang the post and missed the net on two of the free position attempts, while BSU junior netminder Hayley Barner (Westwood, Mass.) stopped the other.

Barner finished with 13 saves for the game as she recorded her sixth win of the season and 20^th of her collegiate career. Senior goalkeeper Maria Woodall (Norfolk, Mass.) turned aside 16 shots in the setback for the Owls.

Westfield finished with a 38-35 shot advantage, while Bridgewater held a 17-10 edge in draw controls. McDonough and Moynihan corralled seven draws apiece to lead all players. Senior midfielder Marissa Nimeskern (Hanover, Mass.) recorded five draw controls for the visitors.

The Bears went 6-for-10 on free position attempts, while the Owls converted 6 of 15.

In upcoming action, the Bears host Plymouth State University on Tuesday afternoon at four. The Owls travel to Springfield College on Wednesday evening for a six o'clock game with the Pride.