SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 9, 2025) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team came away with an important 16-3 victory over the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday evening from Golden Bear Stadium, holding the Leopards to just three goals across the 60 minutes of play and no goals in the final 40 minutes of the game altogether. 

Records:

• Western New England: 4-8, 3-2 CNE
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 5-7, 1-4 CNE

How it Happened:

Western New England would win the opening draw control of the game and came away with the early bid to score but Lyndsey Bunnell's shot would be saved by WIT's Hayden Saunders to stop the Golden Bears from scoring early. Wentworth would turn the ball over of their first possession of the game as Samantha Montecalvo picked up the caused turnover and ground ball to get the Golden Bears moving down the field. A free position shot and goal by Mia Celentano would open the scoring in the game for the Golden Bears as Celentano celebrated her 31^st goal of the season. Wentworth answered right back with a goal of their own just 1:03 later when Sydney Vega potted a shot into the top right corner of the net to even the score at one. Abbey Francis would be rewarded for the eighth time of the season for Western New England on the season, scoring the second goal of the evening for the blue and gold after Melissa Shanteler would cause a turnover while the WNE offense went to work to score their second goal of the game. Wentworth would score their second of the game following as Vega tied the game at two with a player up goal. Emily Picolla would come up with back-to-back saves following the Wentworth goal to keep the Leopards from taking a lead. The Golden Bears would reward the play of their goalkeeper with the 22^nd of the season from Lina Eves with 4:04 to play in the opening quarter, giving the Golden Bears a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute later it would be Celentano back on the scoreboard for WNE on an assist from Bunnell, which gave the blue and gold a 4-2 lead. Bunnell picked up two points for Western New England in the first frame, including the fifth goal of the game with 1:27 to play, giving the Golden Bears a 5-2 lead, a lead they held onto until the end of the first quarter. The first quarter saw WNE out shoot Wentworth 9-4 overall. Both goalkeepers made two saves while WNE picked up six ground balls. 

Wentworth would turn the ball over to begin the second quarter while the Golden Bears came rushing down the field on a clear attempt and sixth goal of the game overall, third from Mia Celentano, who scored her 33^rdof the season to give Western New England a 6-2 lead. 27 seconds later, the Golden Bears would begin to pull away from the Leopards when Lina Eves drove to the net and scored her 23^rd this season to extend the lead for the blue and gold. Wentworth would take a timeout in the game following but Eves picked up her third of the game after and gave Western New England an 8-2 lead. Wentworth would end the streak of goals for the Golden Bears with one of their own with 10:26 to play as Grace Del Pilar picked up her 14^th goal this season, cutting WNE's down to 8-3. Wentworth would not score in the rest of the half following while the Golden Bears added three more goals before the half would end, leading 11-3 at the break. Two more goals by Celentano and a mark from Megan Spedaliere allowed Western New England to grab hold of another scoring run, taking an 11-3 lead. WNE took 14 shots to Wentworth's five in the second quarter overall.

Western New England used the full clock on their first possession of the second quarter but were not able to come away with a shot on goal, causing a clock violation. Wentworth picked up their first shot in the frame on their first possession of it, but Emily Picolla came up with her fifth save of the game to keep the Leopards from scoring. Wentworth would fail to add a tally in the third quarter altogether while Western New England would continue to pile it on the Leopards, scoring three more to take a 14-3 lead after the third quarter overall. Ella Henry began the scoring for Western New England in the third quarter with her 11^th of the season, raising WNE's lead to nine with 10:53 left in the third. The WNE defense would stymie the Leopards, causing three turnovers in the quarter overall with Mia Celentano, Melissa Shanteler, and Samantha Montecalvo coming away with the causes. Celentano would add her sixth goal of the game with 6:44 to play in the third quarter when Henry netted her second free position goal of the game for her 12^th of the season just before the end of the quarter expired, giving WNE a 14-3 lead after the third frame. Western New England took 11 shots in the third quarter while Emily Picolla made two more saves for WNE. 

The Golden Bears would cruise to a win in the fourth quarter, shutting out the Leopards in the second half entirely to come up with the win. Abbey Francis and Lyndsey Bunnell came up with the two goals of the fourth quarter for WNE that saw assists from Ella Henry and Samantha Montecalvo which brought the score to 16-3 in favor of the home team. Western New England out shot Wentworth 9-3 in the quarter and scooped eight more ground balls to come up with the win. Additionally, WNE picked up three more caused turnovers to shut out the Leopards in the second half. 

Inside the Lines:

• Melissa Shanteler led the defensive charge against Wentworth in Wednesday's CNE victory, causing three turnovers while scooping five ground balls. Samantha Montecalvo collected two caused turnovers and picked up three ground balls. 
• Seven Golden Bears registered at least two points in the game led by senior Mia Celentano who scored six goals and added an assist on Wednesday. 
• Lyndsey Bunnell had two goals and three assists in the game while also taking six shots, putting four on goal while coming up with one ground ball. 
• Megan Spedaliere (1 G, 2 A), Abbey Francis (2 G, 1 A), Ella Henry (2 G, 1 A), and Lina Eves (3 G) all had multi-point outings. 
• In goal, Emily Picolla made six saves while allowing just three goals. Brooke Darling made one stop between the pipes for WNE, playing the final 11:18. 
• This is the 12^th straight victory for the Golden Bears all-time over Wentworth. All wins have been by at least ten goals. 

Hear From The Players:

• Abbey Francis was asked how the game went for herself as well as the team from an offensive standpoint. "On offense today we really wanted to work through our plays,  set each other up, work through our motions, and prepare for Saturday. I thought we did a good job of that. We had a lot of assists today and overall we had a really good game."
• Melissa Shanteler was asked was asked how the game went for herself as well as the team from a defensive standpoint. "We did really well today. We played three great games last week and we brought it into practice yesterday as we prepare for our big game on Saturday. We communicated effectively and did a great job of carrying that throughout the whole game. 
• When asked what it will take to get a victory on Saturday at Roger Williams, the Golden Bear duo answered, "A lot of preparation. Coming off of Endicott last Saturday we did a lot of good things preparing for that. We communicated well and we played the full 60 minutes, We kept a fast paced game the whole time and that is what it is going to take to stay with Roger Williams on Saturday."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England travels to Roger Williams University on Saturday, April 12 at 12:00 PM for conference action.