Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Western New England University women's lacrosse team defeated Endicott College, 19-17, on Wednesday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium in their regular-season finale to earn a share of first place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the Gulls. The Golden Bears (13-4, 7-1 CCC) and Gulls (10-7, 7-1 CCC) will both receive first-round byes in the CCC Championship, which begins this weekend.

"This was a team effort and (we) didn't let down even when we were down," Western New England coach Aimee Klepacki said. "Across the board we were strong at both ends."

Freshman Taylor Scialdone led the Golden Bears with six goals and eight points, and sophomore goalkeeper Melissa Perry recorded a season-high 13 saves.

Endicott took an early advantage in the game, scoring four of the first five goals to take a 4-1 lead with four different goal scorers. The Golden Bears were forced to play catch-up for most of the first half, falling behind 9-4 (their largest deficit of the game) with just under 13 minutes left.

Western New England then took matters into its own hands, grabbing the momentum from Endicott and not relinquishing it for the remainder of the contest. Midfielder Jessica Scannapieco and Scialdone tallied four goals apiece in the final 11 minutes of the half to give the Golden Bears a 13-12 lead.

Although the pace of play in the second half was considerably slower than the first, Western New England unquestionably dictated the tempo. Freshmen midfielder Tori Cirocco and attacker Bethany Peters each scored within the first 10 minutes of the half, upping WNE's lead to three (15-12). When Scialdone notched her sixth goal of the game at the 12:01 mark, the Golden Bears had achieved their biggest lead of the contest (19-14). Endicott would add three more goals, including two by midfielder Holly Davis (7 goals, 60 goals this year) before falling by the final of 19-17.

Western New England, which has now won six consecutive contests and eight of its last nine, was led by consistent contributors Scannapieco (five goals), Scialdone (six goals, two assists) and freshman attacker Brooke Kumnick (three goals, two assists). With their goals in today's game, both Scannapieco (52) and Scialdone (53) surpassed the 50-goal plateau.

Along with Davis, the Gulls got offensive contributions from midfielder Callie Murphy (three goals), attacker Kelly Tierney (five goals, six assists) and midfielder Siri Mason (two goals). Rachel Socolow, who came into today's game leading the CCC with an 8.8 goals-against-average, allowed 19 in the loss.