Women's Lacrosse Comeback Bid Falls Shorts in 15-14 Setback to UNE

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The visiting University of New England women's lacrosse team withstood a furious fourth quarter comeback attempt as the Nor'easter held off Bridgewater State University, 15-14, on Friday afternoon at Swenson Field.

The Nor'easters improve to 2-1 on the season, whole the host Bears fall to 1-3.

Freshman attack Meagan Donovan (Scarborough, Maine) paced the Nor'easters with a game-high four goals to go along with an assist, while sophomore attack Morgan White (Rochester, N.H.) tallied three goals and a helper and sophomore midfielder Paige DeVries (Windham, N.H.) notched three goals. Graduate defender Keagan Dunbar (Middlebury, Vt.) and sophomore defender Ashjan Abdulsalam (Biddeford, Maine) led the UNE defensive effort. Dunbar recorded four caused turnovers and a game-high six ground balls while Abdulsalam registered four caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Graduate attack Katie Swart (Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Bears' comeback bid with three goals and an assist. All three goals came in the second half including two in the fourth quarter. Graduate midfielder Delaney Langton (Scituate, R.I.) and sophomore attack Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, Mass.) each contributed two goals and two assists for the hosts. Junior attack Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.), sophomore midfielder Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) and freshman midfielder Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) led the BSU defensive effort. The trio combined for nine caused turnovers and ten ground balls.

UNE closed out the first quarter with a 5-0 run to take an 8-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. White and Donovan tallied two goals apiece during the spurt.

Back-to-back tallies by McIntyre to open the second quarter pulled the Bears to within four (8-4). The two teams would exchange a pair of goal apiece over the final 11 minutes of the period as the Nor'easters took a 10-6 lead into the break.

The Nor'easters outscored the Bears 4-1 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 14-7. DeVries, junior midfielder Abby McHallam (Medway, Mass.) and Donovan each found the net in the period with DeVries potting a pair.

Trailing by seven, the Bears dominated the fourth quarter. Langton and Wood started the comeback bid with back-to-back strikes. After McHallam found the back of the net to give the visitors a 15-9 lead, the BSU defense shut the Nor'easters down the rest of the way while the BSU offense went to work. A nifty backhand goal by Gonsalves off a nice feed from freshman attack Katie Lamothe (Dartmouth, Mass.) followed by consecutive free position markers from Sylvia and Langton cut the deficit to 15-12 with 3:50 showing on the scoreboard. Just 20 seconds later, Swart picked up a loose ball and deposited a shot into the back of the net to make it a two-goal game.

The score remained that way until the clock ticked under a minute. Swart converted a nice pass from Langton to pull the Bears to within one (15-14) with just 26 seconds remaining. UNE won the ensuing draw and the Bears were able to force a turnover, but with just eight seconds left to play. Out of a timeout and having to go the length of the field, the Bears' attempted a long pass down the middle of the field that was broken up as time ran out.

Bridgewater held a slight 30-28 shot advantage as well as a 20-13 edge in draw controls. Langton, McIntyre and junior midfielder Haley Wood (Middleboro, Mass.) combined for 19 of the Bears' 20 draw controls on the afternoon with Wood collecting a game-high seven and Langton and McIntyre recording six apiece.

The Nor'easters converted 7 of 9 free position attempts, while the Bears went 3-for-5 from the free position.

Freshman goalkeeper Maria Turriza (Windham, N.H.) made seven saves to pick up her second win of the season between the pipes for UNE. Senior netminder Olivia Kerrigan (Braintree, Mass.) turned aside eight shots in goal for the Bears.

Bridgewater State will head down to the Countryside Sports Complex in Clearwater, Florida next week. The Bears will take on Wittenberg University on Monday morning at 11:00 AM and Swarthmore College on Tuesday afternoon at 12:30. UNE entertains Salem State University on Tuesday night at seven.

Notes: Bridgewater holds a 7-4 lead in the all-time series including a 3-2 mark at home. The two teams first met back in 2008.