SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 20, 2025) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team would keep tight with the hosting Owls of Westfield State University on Thursday night after the first quarter, but the Owls would outscore WNE 14-3 in the next two quarters and would glide to a 20-9 victory over the Golden Bears in non-conference action. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-5
• Westfield State University: 2-5

How it Happened:

Westfield State was on the scoreboard first, taking advantage of a green card assessed to the Golden Bears just 14 seconds in the game. The Owls would see Natalie DeMaio fire home the first goal for WSU, giving the Owls a 1-0 lead. Western New England would come back for the next two goals of the game in quick succession as Megan Spedaliere and Mia Celentano were on the board for the Golden Bears less than a minute apart, giving Western New England a 2-1 lead. Westfield State would respond with three straight goals in a two-minute span, getting goals from Samantha Dyer, former Golden Bear Kylie Buchanan, and Natalie DeMaio again, giving the Owls a 4-2 lead. Western New England battled back for two straight goals in the final 30 seconds as Ella Henry would score twice, both assists coming from Abbey Francis, tying the game at four after the first 15 minutes of play. Westfield State had the shots advantage in the first quarter 9-6 while Emily Picolla made three saves for the Golden Bears in the opening frame. WNE was 4/8 in clear attempts and had four ground balls overall in the first quarter. 

Westfield scored six of the seven goals in the second quarter and began to break the game wide open. Mykenzie Black scored while a player up just 38 seconds into the second quarter, which would quickly be followed up with another goal from Buchanan, giving WSU a 6-4 lead. Ella Henry would have her third goal of the game to get Western New England back within a goal with ten minutes remaining in the frame, but Buchanan would be back on the scoreboard just a minute after WNE would score, giving Westfield State a two-goal lead again. The Owls would continue to increase their lead in the quarter with goals from Dyer and DeMaio. Westfield State would come up with a 10-5 lead at the half. Six of Westfield's 11 shots in the frame found the back of the net. Western New England had all seven of their shots find the target. Sydney Smith recorded six saves for the Owls. 

The Owls scored a remarkable eight goals in the third quarter to tear the game wide open while Western New England could find the back of the net just twice. Lina Eves brought the Westfield state lead down to seven by finding the back of the net after winning a draw control, seeing the score move to 13-6. Eves would have both WNE goals in the third quarter overall, but the Owls continued to score and ran away with an 18-7 lead after three-quarters of play. 

Both teams had two goals each in the fourth quarter, but Westfield State would already have the game well in control. Mia Celentano picked up an early tally for the Golden Bears while Lina Eves would have her third of the game with 1:14 left in the game that moved the score to 20-9, the score that would end the game as Western New England would drop the non-conference game and suffer their eighth straight loss overall to the Owls. 

Inside the Lines:

• Despite the Golden Bears falling big, both Lina Eves and Ella Henry would shine for the Golden Bears. Eves picked up three goals on five shots while scooping one ground ball. Henry picked up three goals on four shots on goal. 
• Mia Celentano scored twice on three shots on goal and picked up a ground ball. 
• The Golden Bears turned the ball over 20 times in the game and caused just five turnovers all night. 
• Emily Picolla made eight saves in the net through 53:22 of play. Deana Baez allowed one goal in the final 6:38 of the game. 
• Natalie DeMaio scored five goals and picked up an assist for Westfield State in the game to lead the way. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will open conference play on Wednesday, March 26 against Gordon College at 4:00 PM.