PANAMA CITY, Fla. (March 21, 20224) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team came away with an early 1-0 lead in the first quarter of Thursday afternoon's non-conference contest against the Hawks of Hartwick College, though quickly saw the Hawks outscore the Golden Bears 8-0 in the half following the run from WNE on their way to a 16-4 victory.

Records:

• Western New England: 0-6
• Hartwick College: 4-2

How it Happened:

Looking for their first win of the season, Western New England got off to a strong start, scoring the opening goal of the game with 9:46 left in the first when Abbey Francis netted a goal for the blue and gold, giving Western New England a 1-0 lead. Megan Spedaliere came away with the opening assist of the game. The Golden Bears went up by two quickly when Ella Henry fired a shot into the back of the net on another assist from Spedaliere, giving WNE a 2-0 lead. From there, it would be all Hawks, as Hartwick would take over the game and never look back. Hartwick would close the first quarter with the last four goals of it, as Kristen Vaccarelli scored twice while picking up an assist in the frame as the Hawks took a 4-2 lead out of the first quarter. Hartwick outshot Western New England 11-5, while Faith Graveline made four saves in the opening frame.

The Hawks would dominate Western New England in the second quarter, seeing Katrina Marten, Kristen Vaccarelli, and Kara Anderson tally goals in the quarter, while Western New England would take ten shots in the second quarter, placing four on frame, all handled by Hartwick's goalkeeping. WNE was 3/5 on clear attempts in the second quarter and won four of the five draw controls.

After the Hakws opened the third quarter with a goal, Western New England would break a stretch of nine straight goals from Hartwick when Ella Henry found the back of the net for the second time in the game, which sent WNE their third goal of the afternoon. The Hawks would not let Western New England take any momentum from the goal by Henry; in fact, the Hawks would rip off five goals in a row to end the third quarter, taking a 14-3 lead at the end of three quarters of play. WNE was outshot 9-2 in the frame, while Graveline made two saves. WNE turned the ball over 21 times through the first three quarters.

In the fourth, Hartwick would put the game away by outscoring Western New England 2-1. Ella Henry would get her third goal of the afternoon, though it would not be enough as the Golden Bears would drop their sixth straight to open the season, falling 16-4 in the team's first ever matchup.

Inside the Lines:

• Ella Henry scored three of Western New England's four goals on the afternoon.
• The Golden Bears were outshot 34-23 on the day and 26-15 in shots on goal. Henry led WNE with seven shots and six on goal.
• Western New England was 1/6 in free position attempts on Thursday.
• The Golden Bears recorded 24 turnovers in the loss.
• Faith Graveline made nine saves while allowing 14 goals. Riley Franzo saw 11 minutes of action on Thursday, making one save.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will be back at Golden Bear Stadium on Wednesday, March 27 at 4:00 pm for their conference opening game against Endicott College.