Box Score SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.--Junior Kaitlynn Stevens recorded a season-high seven points on four goals and three assists, and sophomores Taylor Scialdone and Brooke Kumnick also netted a hat trick apiece, as Western New England built a large lead before hanging on to a 16-14 non-conference win over host Mount Holyoke in women's lacrosse action at MHC Field on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Golden Bears are 5-0 for the best start in the program's history. The Lyons, meanwhile, fall to 1-3 on the season.

Mount Holyoke's sophomore attack Julia Bell led all scorers with six goals and eight points, Catherine Ryan added five assists among six points, and Kirsten Kilburn chipped in three goals and a game-high-tying six draw controls.

Western New England opened the game with a flourish as three of the first four goals came off the stick of Kumnick over a 2-minute and 16-second span ending at the 24:58 mark of the first half. Senior Shelby Trebbe got the first of her two tallies after 1:33 of elapsed time, unassisted.

MHC was able to close the gap to 4-2 as Bell and first-year attack Katherine Guinee each scored, but the Golden Bears struck again as Stevens found the back of the net at the 20:52 mark. Western New England led 5-2.

Scialdone upped the WNE lead to 7-4 on a feed from Stevens at 12:19 on the clock, igniting a 6-2 run for the rest of the half. Western New England took a seemingly comfortable 12-6 cushion at the intermission.

The Golden Bears came out strong in the second stanza, notching four straight from sophomore Bethany Peters, senior tri-captain Kelsey Sherman, Scialdone and junior tri-captain Jessica Scannapieco (6 draw controls)--to hold a 16-6 bulge.

The homestanding Lyons, however, continued to fight and rattled off eight straight goals over the final 21:34 to cut the deficit to 16-14 with 10:20 remaining in the contest. Bell led the charge, scoring three of her six goals during the stretch, including an off-angled shot from around the cage with 11:17 to go.

A marker from junior captain and midfielder Kirsten Kilburn at the 10:20 mark closed the gap to two goals, but despite several chances late, the Lyons could not score the equalizer. Kilburn had another strong attempt, earning a free position tally with 3:16 to play, but her shot sailed wide over the net.

MHC got the ball back with 1:26 to play as Bell scooped up the loose ball, but could not hold on as WNE regained possession on a caused turnover by Kumnick. The Lyons had a last effort in the closing seconds, but were called for a foul, giving the Golden Bears the possession back, which they held on to over the final 15 ticks.

For the game, WNE held a 29-28 advantage in shots and an 11-10 clip in ground balls. Mount Holyoke owned an 18-14 edge in draw controls.

The Golden Bears are scheduled to return to action Thursday (4 p.m.) at Castleton State, but that part of Vermont is currently under a Winter Storm Warning until that night--with up to a foot of snow expected. Mount Holyoke returns to action on Monday when it takes on Clarkson University in a neutral site match to be held in West Palm Beach, Fla. (11:30 a.m.).

Notes: The 2001, 2002 and 2013 squads each started those seasons 4-0...1999 was the first varsity women's lacrosse season at Western New England...with seven saves today, junior goalie Emily Castleman tops the Commonwealth Coast Conference with 31...the top-scoring team in the CCC with 79 goals, or 15.80 per contest, is led by Taylor Scialdone with 15 and Kaitlynn Stevens and Shelby Trebbe with 14 each...Jessica Scannapieco paces WNE with 16 ground balls and 35 draw controls.

(Editor's note: Mount Holyoke Athletics contributed to this game recap.)