Box Score DUDLEY, Mass.--Junior Tori Cirocco pumped in career highs of five goals and four assists for a game-best nine points to lead five Golden Bears with multiple points as Western New England University overcame a slow start to race past Nichols College, 19-12, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference women's lacrosse matchup on Wednesday at Vendetti Field. The visiting Golden Bears improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the CCC, while the Bison fall to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in the conference.

With Western New England's sixth consecutive victory, Coach Aimee Klepacki reached the 200 milestone for her career--spanning 16 years at the school. She owns a 200-91 record for a .687 winning percentage, both program records, and she ranks 11th among active NCAA Division III coaches and T-16th all-time in Division III in wins. She is also the winningest coach in CCC history in terms of both victories and percentage.

Senior Alyssa Bufis (1 assist) and senior captain Grace Murphy paced Nichols with three goals each, and senior Erica Antonison had a pair.

Senior Kaitlynn Stevens added a hat trick and game-best five assists for the Golden Bears, who outshot Nichols 39 to 26. Junior Brooke Kumnick (2 goals, 4 assists) and Taylor Scialdone (4 goals, 2 assists) tallied six points apiece and senior tri-captain Jessica Scannapieco, who is the reigning CCC Offensive Player of the Week, netted four goals among five points.

The hosts surprised the Golden Bears with a quick 4-1 lead after 10 minutes of action. In fact, the teams combined for three goals in the opening 63 seconds as Bufis and Antonison scored 24 seconds apart to put Nichols up 2-0 before Kumnick cut the deficit in half at the 28:57 mark. Two Murphy goals, both unassisted, stretched the Bison lead to three at 20:34 on the clock.

Western New England, however, rattled off 11 of the final 15 goals to close the first half with a 12-8 lead. Scannapieco fueled the comeback by scoring her four goals on the afternoon during that stretch. She also finished with a game-high nine draw controls as the Golden Bears led that category, 19-14.

Junior Meghan Dombkowski potted her first career goal early in the second half to pull the Bison within three goals at 12-9, but the Golden Bears took complete control at that point. Western New England scored the next six goals--keyed by Stevens, Scialdone and Cirocco with two apiece--over a 10-minute span to stretch the lead to 18-9 with 18 minutes and 30 seconds to go.

Senior goalie Emily Castleman took the win after stopping three shots in just over 33 minutes of work. Freshman Shannon McFadden made three saves in the final 26:57 to close the game for the Golden Bears, making her second appearance. Nichols sophomore Katherine Cotton tied her season-high with 12 saves but falls to 1-4 on the year.

Nichols beat WNE in ground balls, 24-19. Bufis and WNE senior tri-captain Sarah Stevens led their respective teams with six ground balls.

Western New England hosts the University of New England on Saturday (1 p.m.) in its CCC home opener at Golden Bear Stadium. The Bison, meanwhile, travel to take on conference foe Salve Regina that day, starting at noon.

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(Editor's note: Nichols College Sports Information Office contributed to this game recap.)