SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 10, 2024) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team fell behind by six goals after the first frame to the reigning CCC Champion Hawks of Roger Williams University, though they would fight back but never make a full comeback, falling 20-12 on Wednesday afternoon from Golden Bear Stadium. Ally Ferraro led WNE with six points, offensively.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-8, 2-2 CCC
• Roger Williams University: 6-7, 5-0 CCC

How it Happened:

The Hawks of Roger Williams would score the first three goals of the game as the reigning champions of the CCC looked dominant early. The Commonwealth Coast Conference's and Roger Williams' leading scorer, Julia Kelley, would get going early in the game, scoring RWU's third goal of the game. Western New England would take back-to-back shots that were both saved by RWU's Zoey Cormican, as Lina Eves and Emmy Burns would be denied. The Golden Bears would get their first goal of the game with 8:33 to play in the first quarter when Ally Ferraro was on the board for the Golden Bears, getting WNE's first goal of the game. The Hawks would score the final four goals of the quarter to take a 7-1 lead after one. RWU outshot Western New England 10-9 in the quarter, with Riley Franzo coming away with two saves.

Western New England found their offensive game to open the second quarter and would come back on the Hawks by scoring the first three goals of the quarter. Emmy Burns started the scoring in the quarter, while Mia Celentano would get the next two for the Golden Bears, as Western New England would now trail by just three in the contest. After a timeout by the Hawks, the road team would regroup and come away with the next two goals of the game when Ella Waryas and Kimmy Creegan were on the board for the Hawks. Western New England would get the final goal of the quarter when Ferraro was back on the board for WNE's fifth goal of the game, as the Golden Bears would trail 9-5 at the break. Roger Williams took 11 shots in the second quarter, while WNE came away with seven.

The Hawks grabbed the first two goals of the second half, while Ella Henry would break that scoring streak by grabbing her first goal of the game with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter. WNE would not be able to get within less than five goals of the lead as the Hawks would continue to score and be led by their senior attack, Julia Kelley. Mia Celentano and Ally Ferraro would score goals for Western New England in the third, as the Golden Bears would take just three shots, all goals, in the third quarter. Franzo made four saves in the quarter.

Western New England would get within six after the Hawks started to pull away early in the fourth quarter when Celetano, Ferraro, and Mariela Biceglia would score goals just 1:31 apart from each other as the Golden Bears would trail 17-11, though the Hawks would net three straight to pick up their 20^th goal of the afternoon to deny the Golden Bears from making a comeback. Lyndsey Bunnell scored late for the Golden Bears, though it would not be enough as Western New England would fall 20-12 to Roger Williams.

Inside the Lines:

• Ally Ferraro led Western New England with four goals and two assists in the game. Ferraro took nine shots, putting eight on goal while scooping two ground balls and two draw controls.
• Mia Celentano would also pick up four goals for Western New England while recording one assist, good for five points in the game.
• GK Riley Franzo came away with ten saves while surrendering 20 goals in the losing effort, suffering her first loss of the season.
• Julia Kelley scored six times while coming away with seven assists, good for 13 points to become the first student-athlete to reach 100 points in the CCC this season.
• RWU outshot Western New England 41-26, while both teams were perfect on clears in the game.
• The 12 goals for Western New England are the most the Golden Bears have put up on RWU since 2015.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE looks to start a new win streak as they hit the road on Saturday, April 13 at 12:00 pm to take on Gordon College.