Manning Propels Women's Lax to 18-10 Win over Castleton

Box Score 

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- In New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) action, sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) notched five goals and three assists to lead the host Bears of Bridgewater State College to an 18-10 victory over Castleton State College this afternoon in Bridgewater.

The Bears remain undefeated in conference play as they are now 4-2 overall and a perfect 2-0 in the NEWLA.  Castleton drops to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in Alliance play.

Manning has tallied at least six points in five of the Bears' first six games this season.  She leads the team with 21 goals and 13 assists for a total of 34 points.

After a tight first half in which Bridgewater led 5-4 at the intermission, the scoring opened up in the second as the teams combined for 19 goals in the final stanza.

With just under 21 minutes remaining in the second half, Castleton took its only lead of the game (7-6) thanks to back-to-back goals from senior attack Nicole Bouchard (Exeter, NH) and junior midfielder Katelyn Greene (Westborough, MA).

That lead would be short-lived however as BSC reeled off nine straight goals in a span of ten minutes to put the game away. Manning scored two goals and assisted on two others during the run, while freshman attack Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) added a pair of goals.

Lennon finished with four goals and an assist for the game, while freshman attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) registered three markers. Senior midfielder Alison Gugliotta (Norwood, MA) assisted on three goals while also tallying three ground balls, two caused turnovers and draw control.

Senior defender Adrienne Berkland (Sharon, MA) had an outstanding game on the defensive end as she registered six ground balls, four caused turnovers and three draw controls.  Freshman keeper Katie Weber (Arlington, MA) turned aside nine shots to pick up her third win of the season.

Bouchard led the way for Castleton as she netted five goals, while junior goaltender Meredith Pope (Montpelier, VT) recorded 11 saves in goal for the Spartans.

Bridgewater outshot the Spartans by a margin of 44-23, while the Bears also held a 20-10 advantage in draw controls.

The NEWLA schedule resumes for the Bears on Tuesday afternoon as they host Westfield State College at 4 PM.  Castleton travels to Worcester State College on Tuesday for a 6 o'clock conference game with the Lancers.