Box Score WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (April 26, 2025) – The sixth-seeded Western New England women's lacrosse team fell on the road for the second time in just over a week to the third-seeded Hawks of the University of Hartford, this time, in the biggest game of the season, falling in the opening round of the Conference of New England Championships by a final score of 22-6. 

Records:

• No. 6 Western New England: 5-12
• No. 3 University of Hartford: 12-5

How it Happened:

Hartford got out to the first goal of the game despite WNE winning the opening draw control of the game. Madison Olmstead put the Hawks on the board just 1:36 into the game, giving the Hawks the early edge. Western New England would fight back for their first goal of the game when Lyndsey Bunnell took a pass from Mia Celentano and found the twine to tie the game while a player up. Celentano then wasted little time to give WNE the lead, their first of the afternoon, taking a 2-1 advantage. From there, it would be all Hartford, who saw their defense lock the Western New England offense, while the Golden Bears defense would not be able to stop the high-flying offense from the University of Hartford. Lauren Samela gave the Hawks their lead back with 7:18 to play in the first quarter while the Hawks would continue to score, picking up the final six goals of the first quarter overall to take a 7-2 lead after the opening 15 minutes. The Golden Bears did pick up seven shots in the opening quarter, four of which would be turned away from Hartford's Mandi Rivard. Six of the ten draw controls in the first quarter went the Golden Bears' way. 

The Hawks did not slow down by any means in the second quarter, continuing their scoring run from the first quarter into the second. Talei Ricketson would be the first to score for the Hawks in the second quarter, while goals from  Meghan Smith, Katie Zonin, and Madison Olmstead would put Hartford ahead by a large margin following the end of the quarter. Allison Cyr would score the last goal of the frame for Western New England, which stopped a run of ten straight goals from the Hawks, while Bunnell would pick up the assist for her second point of the afternoon. The second quarter saw Hartford take ten shots, with Emily Picolla coming up with two saves for WNE in between the pipes. 

Hartford would return the favor right away to begin the third quarter, scoring their 12^th goal of the game to take a 12-3 lead. Scoring would be minimal in the third overall, with the Hawks picking up four more tallies while WNE picked up just one additional goal. Mia Celentano would find the back of the net with 9:11 to play in the quarter, but the Hawks found the back of the net twice in the final 1:30 of the frame to take an 11-goal, 15-4 lead after three quarters of play. The WNE offense would struggle in the third quarter, mustering just four shots overall. The Golden Bears turned the ball over six times in the third quarter, to their downfall. Picolla made four saves in the third, doing all she could to keep WNE's hopes alive in the playoffs. 

In the fourth, the Hawks led off the frame with their 16^th goal of the afternoon to take a 16-4 lead, well on their way to advancing to the Conference of New England semifinal game and eliminating WNE from playoff contention. WNE would score two goals overall in the fourth quarter, one coming from junior Ella Henry and the final goal in the career of Mia Celentano who rifled home her third goal of the game and fifth point overall, but unfortunately for the Golden Bears, it would not be enough to overcome the quick offensive start by the Hawks as WNE would fall by a final score of 18-6 in the CNE first-round game, seeing their season come to an
end. 

Inside the Lines:

• Mia Celentano's five points, three goals and two assists, led the offense for the blue and gold overall. 
• WNE caused just three turnovers all afternoon on Hartford with Celentano, Gabby Sliwka, and Lian Eves doing so. 
• Emily Picolla came up with seven saves in the game while Brook Darling filled in for the final quarter, allowing three goals but picking up four saves. 
• Madison Olmstead scored six times and added four assists for the Hawks, good for a game-high ten points overall. 
• Hartford took 38 shots to WNE's 21 in the game. 14 of the 21 WNE shots were on goal. 
• The Hawks sweep the season series from WNE, going 2-0 overall.