SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 22, 2022) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team returned to Golden Bear Stadium for the first time since March 3, coming away with a 14-7 victory over the Worcester State University Lancers on Tuesday evening. Kylie Buchanan led the way for the Golden Bears, scoring four goals in the win. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-2
• Worcester State: 3-4

How it Happened:

The game opened with nearly ten minutes of no scoring before Western New England would score four goals in less than three minutes of game play to take an early 4-0 lead. Anabella Arias opened the scoring for Western New England on an assist from Liz Mazza to give the Golden Bears an early 1-0 edge. Mazza would find the scoresheet on the next goal of the game, coming away with her first of the game, adding to WNE's lead. Samantha Vitka would pick up WNE's thid goal of the evening, while Mazza picked up her second goal on an unassisted marker with 3:37 to play in the first quarter, sending WNE to a 4-0 lead. Worcester State would collect the next two goals of the contest, cutting the Golden Bears lead in half, including scoring the first goal of the second quarter. WNE took 12 shots to Worcester State's six to open the first 15 minutes of play. 

Abby Lauzon would tally just 1:13 into the second quarter for the Lancers to move them to a 4-2 deficit to open the second quarter. From there, Western New England would make another scoring run of four goals, picking up four tallies in seven minutes. Kylie Buchanan would tally three of the four Golden Bear goals, while Mazza would pick up her third of the night as Western New England took a 8-2 lead. Hannah Jarvis would pick up two assists on the four goals, while Reilly Miller and Ally Ferraro would enter the scoresheet for the first time on the evening. Worcester State would pick up two straight goal to move the score to 8-4 with just over three minutes to play. Western New England would deny the comeback of the Lancers, as Miller would score the final two goals of the second quarter for Western New England, sending the Golden Bears to a 10-4 lead after 30 minutes. The Golden Bears took 14 shots in the second quarter, while WSU came away with eight. Faith Graveline made six saves, three in each quarter to open the first two quarters of play. Savanna Rosado came away with nine first half saves for Worcester State. 

Scoring was scarce in the third quarter as both teams would tune up their defensive prowess. Only three goals were had in the third 15 minutes of play, with Worcester State taking the 2-1 edge. With just three minutes of elapsed time gone in the quarter, Shea Jarvis collected her first goal of the evening for the Lancers, putting them down 10-5. Western New England would come right back with a goal from Miller, her third of the evening. Worcester State would add a goal with ten minutes remaining, though that would be the final goal of the quarter, ending the quarter with a score of 11-6 in favor of WNE. The Golden Bears would pepper the Lancers goalie with shots, coming away with 14, while Rosado made eight third quarter saves on nine shots on goal, holding the Lancers within reach. 

Western New England would come around to ice the game in their favor in the fourth quarter as Vitka, Buchanan, and Ferraro would come away with goals for the Golden Bears in the fourth quarter, sending Western New England over Worcester State by a final score of 14-7. Jarvis would come through with two additional assists in the fourth quarter for WNE, while Buchanan would net her game high fourth of the night. The Lancers would come away with the shots advantage in the fourth quarter, 10-9. Graveline made three saves in each quarter on the night, coming away with her fifth win between the pipes on the season. 

Inside the Arc:

• Kylie Buchanan scored four times for Western New England, shooting 13 times towards goal, hitting the target eight times. 
• Hannah Jarvis finished the evening without a goal, though picked up five assists in the win for the Golden Bears. Jarvis also came away with one caused turnover for the Golden Bears. 
• Reilly Miller, Samantha Vitka, and Liz Mazza came away with multiple goals each in the victory for the Golden Bears. 
• The Western New England defense caused 12 turnovers in the win as Hannah Richard, Liz Mazza, Alexa Paoli and Ally Hill came away with two each. 
• Faith Graveline played all 60 minutes between the pipes, coming away with 12 saves on 19 shots on goal faced. 
• Western New England scooped 24 ground balls in the win, while Worcester State came away with 23 ground balls. The Golden Bears were a perfect 15-15 in clears while Worcester State went 16-21. 
• The Lancers were led by the goalkeeper, who made 21 saves on 35 shots on goal by Western New England. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears open conference play on Saturday, March 26 at 1:00 pm when they welcome the University of New England to Golden Bear Stadium. 
• Worcester State returns home to host Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday, March 24 at 7:00 pm.