Clancy, King Lead Women's Lacrosse to 11-10 Win Over Mount Holyoke

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Freshman midfielder Alex King's (Weymouth, Mass.) free position goal with 19 seconds remaining in the game lifted the Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to a dramatic 11-10 season-opening victory over visiting Mount Holyoke College on Tuesday afternoon at frigid Swenson Field.

On a cold afternoon with temperatures in the mid 20s, The Bears (1-0) came back from a three-goal, second half deficit to give first-year head coach Holly Drown a win in her Bridgewater State debut.

Down 9-6 with under 11 minutes remaining in the final period, the Bears reeled off four straight goals ignited by a pair of tallies from freshman attack Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.).   Senior midfielder Taylor Clancy (Braintree, Mass.) tied the game at 9-9 with an unassisted marker at the 7:32 mark.  Clancy then gave Bridgewater its first lead of the game as she scored off a feed from Renauld.

After not trailing for the first 54 minutes of the contest, the visiting Lyons now stared at a one-goal deficit with the clock ticking under four minutes.  However, senior attack Liz Randolph (Southbury, Ct.) set up sophomore attack Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass.) for the game-tying strike with a nice pass from behind the net to knot the score at 10-10 with 3:37 left to play.

Bridgewater had a golden opportunity to produce the go-ahead goal after the Lyons was carded at the three-minute mark.  The Bears, however, could not convert on the two-minute, player advantage.

That would, however, set the stage for King's last second heroics as the Bears continued to maintain possession in the final minute of play.  With the clock ticking down to 20 seconds, King was fouled inside the eight-meter arc.  On the ensuing free position attempt, the BSU rookie rifled a low shot past the Lyons' goaltender for the game-winning score.

The first half was somewhat of a back-and-forth affair as the two teams headed to the intermission with the score tied at 6-6.  The Bears never led in the opening stanza, but battled to keep the score tied.  Senior attack Melanie Appleman (Hyannis, Mass.) and King (twice) each recorded equalizing goals in the period.

Mount Holyoke seemed to take control of the game after scoring the first three goals of the second half.  Two goals by Bell sandwiched around a Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Ct.) strike gave the Lyons the 9-6 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.

BSU sophomore net minder Chandler Ross (Wrentham, Mass.) recorded 12 saves between the pipes to pick up the win.

Clancy paced the Bears with a team-high five goals and six points.  She added six ground balls, three draw controls and four caused turnovers.  King finished with three goals and an assists to go along with a team-best five draws in her collegiate debut.

Renault chipped in with her first two collegiate goals as well as an assist for three points. Freshman defender Gaelin Reall (Providence, R.I.) recorded her first career assist when she set up Renauld's first goal.

Bridgewater held a 14-9 advantage in draws, but were outshot, 29-23.

Bell led the way for Mount Holyoke with five goals and six points, both team-highs.  She also added four ground balls and three caused turnovers.  Kilburn notched three goals and finished with game-high totals of seven ground balls, five draws and four caused turnovers.

Freshman goaltender Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio) made nine saves in the loss for the Lyons.

The Bears are back in action Thursday afternoon when they travel to Western New England University to take on the Golden Bears at four.  The Lyons (0-2) wrap up a three-game road trip to start the season when they head to the University of New England on Saturday afternoon for a one o'clock game with the Nor'easters.