WENHAM, Mass. (April 23, 2022) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team opened a quick 3-0 lead on the hosting Fighting Scots of Gordon College, never looking back, scoring 11 first quarter goals, finishing the game with 21 total, taking down Gordon by a final score of 21-3. Reilly Miller led WNE with four points on the afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 12-4, 6-1 CCC
• Gordon College: 6-9, 0-7 CCC

How it Happened:

Just 1:27 into the contest, Western New England was on the board when Samantha Vitka picked up where she left of from this past week's win over Salve Regina University, scoring the first goal of the on an unassisted marker to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead, a lead WNE held for the entirety of the contest. Liz Mazza would dish two free position goals into the back of the net to quickly give Western New England a 3-0 lead. The Fighting Scots would indeed fight back, scoring a free position shot goal with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first quarter, giving WNE just a slim two goal lead. From there, it would be all Golden Bears on the attack. Liz Mazza came away with her hat trick goal on an assist from Ally Ferraro to get the Golden Bears back on the board. Goals in the quarter from Reilly Miller, Ally Hill, Emmy Burns, Anabella Arias, and Mia Celentano would send the Golden Bears to a big 11-1 lead after one quarter of play. Western New England would outshoot Gordon 25-2 in the quarter, WNE's most shots of any quarter this season. 

Scoring would slow down in the second quarter with the Golden Bears well in command of the lead as just three goals found the back of the net, two for Western New England. With 11:33 to play in the second quarter, Madisyn Crotta scored Western New England's ninth straight goal, followed by the 10^th straight for the Golden Bears when Anabella Arias scored Western New England's 13^th goal of the afternoon. Gordon College would come back with one goal on a free position shot with just over a minute to play in the quarter, ending the quarter with a 13-2 Golden Bears lead. Riley Franzo and Faith Graveline made four saves in the first half combined while WNE was outshot 8-5 in the second quarter. 

Western New England would turn the ball over just nine times in the entire contest, coming away with a strong showing on the defensive end to lock up the Gordon College offense. Ally Hill would net the first goal of the second half for WNE as Western New England took a big 14-2 lead. WNE would record the only four goals in the quarter as Abbey Francis, Sadye Kowalcyzk and Samantha Vitka would score in the quarter for the Golden Bears to give WNE a 17-2 lead. Western New England took nine of the 11 shots in the third quarter while Riley Franzo came away with two saves. 

Gordon College same away with just one goal in the second half, which opened the scoring in the fourth quarter. WNE ended the game on a 4-0 run as Mia Celentano, Mariella Biceglia, Megan Spedaliere and Nora Farmer would all collect goals for Western New England as the Golden Bears would come away with a huge 21-3 win over the Fighting Scots, picking up their sixth win in seven conference games on the season. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Reilly Miller, Samantha Vitka, Liz Mazza, Ally Hill and Mia Celentano had at least two goals in the win for Western New England, pacing the Golden Bears past Gordon College. 
• Nora Farmer collected her first career collegiate goal in the win, picking up the 21^st goal of the afternoon for WNE. 
• WNE's goaltending tandem of Faith Graveline, Riley Franzo, and Emily Lake combined for seven saves on ten shots faced. 
• The Golden Bears cashed in on seven of ten free position chances and outshot the Fighting Scots 49-14. WNE scooped 23 ground balls while Gordon came away with 12. 
• Both Fighting Scots goalkeepers combined for 14 saves on 35 shots faced.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears host Roger Williams University on Wednesday, April 27 at 4:00 pm from Golden Bear Stadium in the team's final regular season game. 
• Gordon College wraps up the season by hosting Salve Regina University for their senior night on the same date.