NORTON, Mass. — Senior attacker Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, Mass.) tallied a career-high nine points, including five goals, to lead the Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team over host Wheaton College (Mass.), 18-8, this afternoon at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Bears improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Lyons drop to 0-1 following their season opener.
Bridgewater State dominated possession, doubling up on Wheaton with a 45-22 shot advantage, while winning 21 of 30 draws.
Gonsalves also added a pair of ground balls for the Bears, while graduate student attacker Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) netted five goals to go with a ground ball and a draw control. Senior midfielder Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored a trio of goals, including her 100th collegiate goal, while adding a game-high seven draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover. Junior middie Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) collected four points with two goals and a pair of assists in addition to three draw controls and a game-high six ground balls. First year keeper Sara Skaff (Lowell, Mass.) stopped six shots for Bridgewater State.
The Lyons were led by senior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) with three markers and an assist, while junior attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) scored a goal, picked up a pair of ground balls and two draw controls. Junior midfielder Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.) contributed with a goal and three ground balls. Junior starting keeper Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped six of 15 shots in 21:24 of action, while sophomore goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) turned away two of five shots in 14:46 of play, First year netminder Averie Walton (Cumberland, R.I.) turned back six shots in 12 attempts in 23:50 during her collegiate debut.
The Bears scored the first six goals of the game, including two from Herrington and McIntyre's 100th career marker with 47 ticks left in the opening quarter. Finnie put Wheaton on the board with back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to 6-2 with 10:13 to play in the second quarter.
Herrington netted the final two goals of the first half for Bridgewater State to give the visitors an 8-2 advantage with 4:33 left in the first stanza. Spielman scored the final goal of the half for the Lyons with 2:03 remaining in the quarter to make it 8-3 at the intermission.
Gonsalves sandwiched a pair of goals for the Bears around a marker from Wheaton senior Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine) to take a 10-4 lead midway through the third quarter for the Bears.
First year midfielder Alexis Antonellis (Lyme, Conn.) netted her first collegiate goal for the Lyons and sophomore attacker Annemieke Buterbaugh (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) followed with another score for the home team to pull Wheaton within 10-6 with 2:39 to play in the third quarter.
Bridgewater State put the game away with a dominant fourth quarter that saw it out-score the Lyons, 8-2, including the last five goals of the match. The Bears scored three of the first four markers of the quarter, capped by a score from Sylvia, to give Bridgewater State a 13-7 lead with 11:23 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
Finnie tallied her third goal of the afternoon for Wheaton to cut the difference to 13-8 at the 10:41 mark, but the Bears ripped off five straight goals, including two for Gonsalves, to increase their cushion to 18-8.
Bridgewater State returns to action on February 26 when it heads to University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for a 4:00 p.m. match, while the Lyons host the same UMass Dartmouth club on March 1 at 1:00 p.m. on Nordin Field.
