Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Senior tri-captain Jessica Scannapieco recorded game highs of five goals, seven points and eight draw controls as top-seeded Western New England cruised past No. 4 Gordon, 16-9, in the semifinals of the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament on Wednesday at Golden Bear Stadium. The host Golden Bears (15-2 overall) will host No. 2 seed Roger Williams--a 15-6 winner over defending CCC champion Endicott in today's other semifinal--on Saturday (1 p.m.).

The Fighting Scots, who finish at 11-8, never led in the game. Abby Illian led Gordon with five goals on six shots and she had five draw controls. Caroline Walton (2 goals, 1 assist) and Jessica Castelline (1 goal, 2 assists) both added three points. Illian finally put the visitors on the scoreboard with 16:03 showing on the clock.

Western New England also got three goals and two assists from senior Kaitlynn Stevens (5 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers), and junior Taylor Scialdone (4 ground balls) scored two goals and assisted on four others.

All-CCC First Team senior goalie Emily Castleman had another strong outing between the pipes, making several stops from close range to finish with eight saves.

Junior Tori Cirocco scored the first of her two goals on the afternoon at the 28:08 mark to put the Golden Bears up 1-0, and they never looked back. Scannapieco scored three goals during a 4-1 run as the Golden Bears went up 5-1 with 9 minutes and 23 seconds to go in the first half.

The Golden Bears saw three different goal-scorers--Cirocco, juniors Emma Norden, Brooke Kumnick--with a span of 1 minute and 44 seconds to increase the lead by six.

Western New England held the Fighting Scots to just three goals on seven shots to take an 8-3 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, WNE started with a 5-1 run to give the Golden Bears their biggest lead at 13-4 with 14:12 remaining. After Illian and Stevens traded goals, Gordon tallied three straight goals by Walton, Castelline and Illian to pull the 'Scots within 14-8. The Golden Bears, however, were never seriously threatened in the late stages.

Senior tri-captain Sarah Stevens helped WNE's defensive cause with two goals, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Western New England outshot Gordon (29-20, 22-17 on goal) and dominated draw controls by a 17 to 10 count. MC Aston had five ground balls for the Fighting Scots.

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