Women's Lacrosse Captures MASCAC Tournament Title

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Led by tournament MVP Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.), the Bridgewater State University Bears captured their third straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament championship as the third-seeded Bears downed top-seeded Westfield State University, 13-12, in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Bridgewater (12-8) will now advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the sixth straight season and seventh time in program history.  The Bears will await word on the NCAA Tournament pairings which are expected to be announced on Sunday night at 9:30 on NCAA.com.

Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.) scored to force the overtime period, then netted the game-winning goal in the extra session to secure the dramatic win for the Bears.

Bridgewater controlled possession early in the game, winning the first four center draws and scoring four goals in the first 4:20 of the game to force a Westfield time out.

After the time out, Bridgewater got back-to-back-goals from Renauld to push the lead to 6-0 just 7:35 into the game.

Westfield finally got on the board with 21:13 remaining in the first half on a free position shot by freshman Brooke Williams (Wilbraham, Mass.), but after a goal by the Owls' Blair Smith (Milford, Mass.) the Bears then went on a 3-0 run, with all the goals coming from Geary, to take a 9-2 lead.

The host Owls proved resilient, however, tallying the next four goals, including one from Williams with 1:03 left in the first half to keep the game within reach. Bridgewater got a goal from Brooke Buckner (Foxboro, Mass.) with just 10 seconds left in the half for the 10-6 halftime margin.

After the Bears netted the first goal of the second half, Westfield went on a 6-0 scoring run, tying the game at 11-11 on Smith's goal off of a feed from Williams. Smith put Westfield on top for the first time in the game (12-11) scoring off an assist from Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, Mass.) with just 5:13 to play.

Bridgewater answered less than a minute later when Renauld capitalized off a nice pass from Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) to knot the score at 12-12.

Westfield had a couple of opportunities at the end of regulation, but were unable to score on two shots from nearly point-blank range after a free position was awarded. BSU goalkeeper Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) stymieing both shots to force the extra frame.

Bridgewater got what proved to be the game winner when Riley Cachelin (Westwood, Mass.) fed Renauld with a pass from the top, and Renauld spun away from a defender and found the back of the net with 4:04 left in the overtime.

The Bears had two chances to add on to the lead but were unable to convert. Cachelin missed high just seconds after Renauld's goal, while Gaelin Reall (Providence, R.I.) was stopped by the Westfield netminder with 42 seconds remaining.

The Owls had two opportunities to knot the score, both coming off the stick of Roni Orcutt (Granville, Mass.). Orcutt missed wide on a free position attempt at the 2:04 mark, and then was stopped by Forman with 1:21 left to play. 

Forman made nine saves for Bridgewater.  Renauld led the Bears with five goals and an assist, and Geary had four goals and a helper to go along with a game-high nine draws.

Possession was a big factor early in the Bears' fast start, and again in the overtime, with Geary helping the visitors win 18 of 29 draws in the contest.  Shots were evenly matched with 31 for Bridgewater and 29 for the Owls.

Westfield got four goals from Smith, and three from Samantha Lungarini (Agawam, Mass.). Smith added a pair of goals and three assists. Junior goalkeeper Mimi Khampaeng (Wilbraham, Mass.) stopped 10 shots.

Westfield's season comes to an end with a 13-5 overall record, and the Owls had their school record 13-game winning streak snapped. The Owls 13 wins this season are a school record.

Notes: The Bears have actually won eight straight conference tournament titles (ten overall) dating back to their days in the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA)....Geary increased her goal-scoring output to 72 which is the third highest single-season total in program history....Cachelin tacked on two assists to her BSU single-season assist record as she now has 65 helpers on the year.