SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 28, 2026) – The Western New England women's lacrosse team dropped a Conference of New England game on Saturday afternoon, as the visiting Nor'easters of the University of New England scurried past the Golden Bears by a final score of 6-5. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-5, 1-2 CNE
• University of New England: 4-4, 2-1 CNE

How it Happened:

First Quarter:

• Both teams saw brilliant defense in the opening 15 minutes of the game, as the Nor'easters and Golden Bears combined for just one goal, belonging to UNE at the end of the opening quarter. Western New England had the early chance as Lina Eves took a shot that went high of the cage. Ella Henry had the first shot on goal for either team in the game, seeing UNE's Olivia Ferraro come away with a save. 
• Emily Picolla made four saves in the opening 15 minutes for Western New England to keep UNE at bay. Ferraro picked up three saves for the Nor'easters. 
• UNE scored the first and only goal in the opening quarter, with just 2:22 remaining in the frame when Ella Cloutier found twine to give the Nor'easters a 1-0 lead. UNE had the 5-4 shots advantage in the frame and was successful on all seven clearing attempts. 

Second Quarter:

• The first goal of the afternoon for Western New England came 1:27 into the second quarter when Lyndsey Bunnell found a cutting Allison Cyr in front of the goal, evening the score at one. Western New England controlled the next draw control and had a pair of shot towards goal, but couldn't find their first lead of the game. 
• With 9:17 to play in the quarter, UNE found twine when Sydney Balotin scored on a pass from Molly Henderson, giving the Nor'easters a 2-1 lead. WNE answered less than a minute later, seeing Bunnell tally her 11^th goal of the season to tie the game at two. UNE had another responding goal, when Ava Ramino scored her second of the game. 
• The Nor'easters added a late goal with under three minutes to play to take their first two-goal lead of the game, leading 4-2 at the half. UNE controlled much of the offense in the second quarter, holding a 13-4 shots advantage, taking seven shots on goal. Emily Picolla made five saves in the frame. The Golden Bears were charged with ten turnovers in the frame.

Third Quarter:

• Allison Cyr repeated what she did in the second quarter to start the third, adding a goal early in the frame to get Western New England within one of the Nor'easters. The two teams battled for the next goal, which didn't come until the 5:53 mark of the third frame when Carlie Francis scored for the 16^th time in her first-year in Blue and Gold to tie the game at four. 
• Both goalies and defenses continued to play strongly. UNE tallied its only goal of the quarter with 4:21 remaining when Ramino scored her second of the game and third of the season for the Nor'easters, giving UNE a 5-4 lead after three quarters. 
• Western New England held a 6-5 shots advantage, and 5-3 on goal. Picolla had three more saves in the third frame while UNE's Ferraro also had three saves. 

Fourth Quarter:

• The Nor'easters had the first goal of the fourth quarter in what ended up being a low-scoring contest. Molly Henderson tallied her 10^th of the season with 12:05 to play, giving the University of New England a 6-4 lead. 
• Needing two to get back into the game, Western New England's first shot following the UNE goal didn't come until the 5:39 mark of the quarter when Samantha Montecalvo had back-to-back chances for WNE, putting a shot over the cage and one into the pocket of UNE's Olivia Ferraro, who held the Golden Bears off the scoreboard. 
• Western New England forced a UNE turnover with 1:30 to play in the fourth and took a timeout to set up a play. The play saw Ella Henry find Gabby Sliwka, who netted her third goal of the season with 52 seconds remaining, dropping UNE's lead to 6-5. The ensuing draw control went Western New England's way in an attempt to tie the game, but with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter, Western New England turned the ball over on a caused turnover from Ashlyn Lesure. UNE ran away with the ball and took the 6-5 victory over the Golden Bears. 

Inside the Lines:

• Emily Picolla was Western New England's best player on Saturday afternoon, coming up with 15 saves and allowing just six goals in the losing effort. Her counterpart, Olivia Ferraro for UNE, made nine saves and allowed just five WNE goals. 
• Lyndsey Bunnell led the Golden Bears with three points, a goal, and two assists. 
• Allison Cyr was the other Golden Bear with more than one point, netting two goals. 
• UNE's Molly Henderson scored a pair of goals and had an assist in the game, while Ava Ramino picked up two goals. 
• UNE had the 28-21 shots advantage in the contest, coming away with an 18-13 shots on goal advantage.  UNE went 20/25 on clearing attempts while the Golden Bears were 19/20. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears travel to Gordon College on Tuesday, March 31 at 4:00 PM, looking to get back to .500 in the conference.