SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 1, 2025) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team took down the Rams of Suffolk University in Conference of New England action on Tuesday evening from Golden Bear Stadium, winning the first-ever meeting between the two teams by a final score of 18-8. 

Records:

• Western New England: 3-6, 2-1 CNE
• Suffolk University: 6-4, 2-1 CNE

How It Happened:

The opening draw control would bounce in the way of WNE as Ella Henry would scoop the ball for the Golden Bears which led to an early goal for the home team. On a free position shot, WNE's Abbey Francis netted the first goal of the game just 42 seconds into it, giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Suffolk responded with a goal of their own, scoring for the first time in program history against the Golden Bears as Julia Dickinson picked up a pass from Ally Colburn and riffled a shot into the back of the net, beating Emily Picolla, evening the score at one. Picolla would deny the next chance for Suffolk however as Colburn took a shot that would be handled by the WNE sophomore, keeping the Rams from taking the lead. Lina Eves had the next goal for the Golden Bears after a chance from Mia Celentano hit the post. A designed play got Eves the tally, giving WNE a 2-1 lead. At the midway point of the opening quarter, it would be Colburn for Suffolk evening the score at two, taking advantage of a Western New England turnover, caused by Eliza Bryant. The Rams would take their first lead of the game while a player up at 6:42 left in the quarter when Jessie Le fired in a free position goal, giving Suffolk a 3-2 lead. The Golden Bears roared back for five straight goals to end the first quarter. Mia Celentano got the Golden Bears going with a goal while Eves scored her second of the game to break the tie just a minute later, giving WNE a 4-3 advantage. WNE kept scoring when Celentano came up with another mark, this time getting an assist from Samantha Montecalvo to extend the lead. The final two goals of the opening quarter would come from WNE junior Ella Henry, who scored two goals in less than a minute of each other, giving the blue and gold and 7-3 lead after 15 minutes of play. WNE produced nine shots in the opening quarter, seven of which found the target. Each goalkeeper made one save. 

Mia Celentano kept her goal streak going to open the second quarter, coming away with the opening two goals for the Golden Bears, giving Western New England a 9-3 lead with 10:30 left to play in the half. Suffolk's Jessie Le netted her second goal of the game and second free position goal to break the Western New England scoring streak at seven straight, putting the Rams back on the scoreboard, and dropping WNE's lead back to five, 9-4. The Rams put a string of three straight into the back of the net to get within three as Le and Colburn would score again for Suffolk roaring back from down six to cut the Golden Bears' lead in half, 9-6 with six minutes to play in the quarter. Fortunately for the Golden Bears, the final two goals before the half came in their favor as Ella Nish scored her second and third goals of the season, putting WNE ahead 11-6 at the break. Jesse Le had a chance at the horn to give the Rams a quick goal before the half but a massive save from Emily Picolla would hold Suffolk off the board. Picolla made three saves in the second quarter overall while WNE took seven shots on goal, scoring four times. 

A draw-control victory to start the third quarter would favor Western New England while Lina Eves would pick up her third of the evening just 40 seconds into the frame, putting WNE ahead by double the Rams total, 12-6. Both teams would have their chance towards goal as the game hit the midway point of the quarter. Suffolk would score what turned out to be one of just two goals in the quarter with 9:31 remaining as Ally Colburn came away with the tally. The Golden Bears would call a timeout following and would score five straight tallies to get well in front of the Rams. Lyndsey Bunnell would score her first goal of the evening for WNE's 13^th goal of the game that brought the lead to six, 13-7. The Golden Bears would keep scoring as Allison Cyr picked up a pass from Gabby Sliwka to find her second goal of the season. Additional goals from Lina Eves (on an assist from Samantha Montecalvo) and Lyndsey Bunnell would raise Western New England's lead to its highest of the evening, 16-7. Suffolk put home a goal with 19 seconds left to play in the frame when Ally Colburn notched her fourth of the game to tie all leading scorers, which put the end of the quarter with a score of 16-8. The Golden Bears carried much of the momentum in the third quarter overall, outshooting Suffolk 13-3, tossing nine shots on goal to Suffolk's two. Suffolk would be just 3/7 on clearing attempts in the quarter. 

The two teams would compete hard, vying for the next goal in the game. Both teams took a handful of shots to begin the quarter but would not be able to find the back of the net. The Golden Bears would eventually find the net with 9:22 remaining in the fourth when Mia Celentano netted her fifth goal of the game on an assist from Lina Eves to give Western New England a 17-8 lead. Mia Celentano picked up a free position goal with 4:51 to play in the final frame to add to WNE's total, giving them their first double-digit lead of the game. Celentano's goal was her sixth of the evening, marking 26 for the season over nine games played. The Golden Bears would go on to take an 18-8 victory in the first ever meeting over Suffolk. 

Inside the Lines:

• On the offensive side of the ball, senior Mia Celentano continues to lead the Golden Bears, adding six goals and picking up two assists for the game, notching eight points. Celentano took 15 shots, putting eight on goal. 
• Lina Eves picked up a career-high six points in the win, scoring four goals while adding two assists. Eves took six shots and put five on goal. 
• Lyndsey Bunnell (2 G, 1 A), Abbey Francis (1 G, 1 A), Ella Nish (2 G), Ella Henry (2 G), and Samantha Montecalvo (2 A) all had multi-point efforts for the Golden Bears. 
• On defense, Keegan McMahon led Western New England with three caused turnovers while Melissa Shanteler picked up two. 
• WNE used all three of their goalkeepers on Tuesday, with Emily Picolla registering her third win of the season, making seven saves. Deana Baez and Brooke Darling also saw action between the pipes.
• This is the first meeting between the two teams all-time, with Western New England winning the battle, 18-8. 

Players Corner:

• When asked about their performance in their bounce-back win over Suffolk Tuesday afternoon, junior Lina Eves was very positive about the team's performance. "It felt great. I think my teammates set me up very well. We were very fluid on the offensive end and really throughout the game. It was a good game."
• Eves continued when asked about how the team overcame last weekend's CNE loss to UNE. "I think the team came together was definitely the main focus."
• Melissa Shanteler responded positively when asked about the defense of the squad this evening. "It felt great today. We came into the game prepared and we communicated very well today. We were ready to work and got a big conference win." 
• When asked about the transition of defense into offense, Shanteler mentioned reflecting on what worked in past games to take into today's game. "We have been reflecting a lot on our past games, and we knew we needed to step up and that is what we did today. We have been working very hard in practice that really showed today."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• A quick turnaround for the Golden Bears will see a road game up next on Thursday, April 3 at 6:00 PM at Worcester State University. The three-game week for WNE ends in conference play at Endicott College on Saturday, April 5 at 1:00 PM.