SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (March 12, 2025) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team used a big second quarter to fend off the Knights of Mt. St. Mary College on Wednesday morning from the Albergue Olympic Training Center in San Juan Puerto Rico, coming up with an 11-7 victory for their first win of the season. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-4
• Mt. St. Mary College: 2-3

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears got off to a quick 2-0 hole as the Knights would score two goals in under a minute to come up with the two-goal lead early. Western New England would bounce back quickly, however, picking up a goal after Christina Harris would cause a turnover while Mia Celentano would find Megan Spedaliere cutting towards the goal, tossed the senior a pass and Spedaliere would make no mistake, finding the back of the net for WNE's first goal of the game, cutting Mt. St. Mary's lead in half, 2-1 with still 9:40 to play in the opening quarter. The Golden Bears continued to be furious on the MSM offense, causing turnovers after Celentano picked up her first of the game. WNE would tie the game at two after Alejandra De Leon would turn the ball over for the Knights while Megan Spedaliere would win the draw control and would set up a goal from Mariella Biceglia, putting the second goal of the game on the board for WNE, tying the game at two. Western New England would not be done scoring from there as Julia Weinert tallied her second goal of the season while a player up with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter. Weinert rushed down the field following another MSM turnover and found the back of the net to give Western New England their first lead of the game. Western New England out shot MSM 8-6 in the first quarter. The Knights had six turnovers to start the game and went 2/6 in clear attempts. 

Western New England rattled off four goals in a row following the 2-0 deficit and picked up their fourth goal of the game from Sydney Miles, who took a pass from Julia Weinert just 1:25 into the second quarter to give the Golden Bears a 4-2 lead over MSM. The first free position goal of the game would be scored by the Knights as Karlie Ferrucci picked up MSM's third goal of the game, putting a halt to Western New England's scoring run. The Golden Bears would not be turned aside by the MSM goal, however, ending the second quarter strong, picking up two goals in under 30 seconds with 5:25 remaining. Mariella Biceglia would take a pass from Lyndsey Bunnell and found the back of the net while Mia Celentano picked up an unassisted mark after winning the draw control and storming right towards goal, giving the Golden Bears a 6-3 lead. That is the score that would end the half after the Golden Bears out shot MSM 10-7 in the frame. The Knights made nine turnovers overall. 

Western New England found twine first in the third quarter but not before Emily Picolla would deny the Knights a chance in the early goings of the frame. Picolla made a stop on Dilisianna Naccarato to keep the Knights at bay. WNE would reward their sophomore goalkeeper with a goal at the 9:11 mark of the quarter as Lina Eves found the back of the net for the first time in the game while Gabby Sliwka picked up the assist for Western New England, giving the Golden Bears a 7-3 lead. WNE would not be done scoring in the frame, picking up the next goal to come away with their largest lead of the game, taking an 8-3 lead as Celentano picked up her second of the game. MSM would drop two goals into the net and would nearly get a third but another big save from Picolla would hold off the Knights as Western New England took an 8-5 lead after three quarters. WNE had seven shots to MSM's six in the frame. Picolla made two big saves at big points in the quarter to keep MSM from gaining much ground on the Golden Bears. 

A run of three goals in a span of 1:14 would be all Western New England would need in the fourth quarter to come up with the victory in the game. At the 9:24 mark of the quarter, Julia Weinet picked up her second goal of the game while Mia Celentano continued to provide points for WNE with an assist, giving the Golden Bears a 9-5 lead. Just 37 seconds later, WNE would score again with Celentano picking up the hat trick. The WNE senior would not be done there, scoring Western New England's 11^th goal of the game and took an 11-5 lead with 8:10 to play in the quarter. The Knights had the final two goals of the game but it would not be enough as Western New England came away with an 11-7 victory, their first win of the season. 

Inside the Lines:

• Mia Celentano continued to be a force on both offense and defense for the Golden Bears, scoring four goals and adding two assists, good for six points in the game. Celentano also picked up one ground ball and had three caused turnovers in the win. 
• Julia Weinert tied a career high with three points in the game, picking up two goals, her fourth and fifth of the season, while adding an assist. 
• Mariella Biceglia churned out two goals for the Golden Bears, also scoring multiple points for WNE. 
• Megan Spedaliere caused two turnovers and had two ground balls for the Golden Bears in the win while also scoring once. 
• In goal, Emily Picolla made five saves in the win. 
• Western New England out shot MSM 33-23 in the game. MSM committed 25 turnovers to WNE's 18. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Conference play opens for the blue and gold on Wednesday, March 26 at 4:00 PM from Golden Bear Stadium as Gordon College visits Springfield.