SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 1, 2022) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team took control of the game early and buried the Keene State College Owls on Tuesday evening, beating KSC 16-6 for their first win of the 2022 season. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-0
• Keene State: 0-1

How it Happened:

It took the Golden Bears just 58 seconds into the first quarter to open the scoring in their first game of the season as Emmy Burns tallied the first goal of the campaign for Western New England. The Golden Bears would score the first nine goals on the afternoon into the evening. Anabella Arias would credit her first of the season with 11:26 to play in the first quarter to give WNE a 2-0 lead. The Golden Bears would get back-to-back goals by graduate student Reilly Miller to double their lead, at 4-0. WNE would close out the final three minutes of the first quarter by getting the second of the night from Arias as well as tallies from both Kylie Buchanan and Hannah Jarvis to give the Golden Bears a 7-0 lead through one quarter. Liz Mazza came away with two assists in the quarter. Faith Graveline came away with one save in the quarter for the Golden Bears. WNE outshot Keene State 15-1 through the first 15 minutes. 

The Golden Bears would open the second quarter with the first two tallies as Jarvis and Arias would credit additional goals to put WNE ahead 11-0. Keene State would get on the board as Brigid Casey scored the Owls first goal of the season to cut the Golden Bears lead back to ten. Three straight goals, with coming from Mazza as well as a tally from Buchanan would send WNE to a 13-1 lead. Mia Celentano would score her first collegiate goal with the Golden Bears to close the scoring through the first half, as WNE took a 13-2 lead into the break. The Golden Bears took 11 second quarter shots, while KSC came through with four. 

Scoring cooled off for Western New England in the second half of play, though the first half of play would be plenty to bury the Owls early in the contest. Keene State would outscore Western New England in the third quarter as they would get three goals from three different goal scorers. WNE netted two goals in the quarter as Samantha Vitka netted her first of the season, while Mazza found twine for her third of the night. Western New England continued to outshoot Keene State, this time 8-3 in the third quarter. Emily Lake would see action in between the pipes for the Golden Bears in the third quarter. 

Just a pair of goals were to be had in the fourth quarter to close out the game as Megan Spedaliere would credit her first of the season on an assist from Madisyn Crotta to give Western New England a 16-5 lead. Keene State would add an extra tally in the winding minutes of the fourth quarter, ending the game at 16-6 in favor of the Golden Bears. Keene State would outshoot the Golden Bears 7-5 in the quarter as Riley Franzo would also see action for WNE in goal. 

Inside the Arc:

• Liz Mazza would lead all scorers on the evening, scoring three goals as well as picking up three assists, grabbing her first six points on the season. 
• Anabella Arias also tallied three goals for the Golden Bears in the win. Arias finished the night with six shots with five on goal.
• Hannah Jarvis, Reilly Miller, and Kylie Buchanan scored twice for Western New England. 
• In total, the three goalkeepers for the Golden Bears made a combined seven saves, including four in the fourth quarter, Owls GK Haley Terva made 15 saves on 31 shots on goal faced. 
• Western New England would outshoot the Owls 39-15 in the contest. WNE would collect 19 ground balls, while KSC scooped 18. 
• Brigid Casey led Keene State with a game high four goals on seven shots. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England returns to action on Thursday, March 3 at 4:00 pm when they host Westfield State University at Golden Bear Stadium.
• Keene State opens their home schedule on March 7 when they host Johnson & Wales University from the Owls Athletic Complex for their first game on their new turf.