Shannon Manning Named NEWLA Player of the Week

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the fourth time this season, Bridgewater State College sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning has been named the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) Player of the Week.

Manning, who hails from Framingham, Massachusetts, led BSC to the NEWLA Tournament championship as she scored eight goals and tallied five assists for 13 points in the Bears' wins over Westfield State and Castleton State. She also notched five draw controls in the two games.

In BSC's 22-8 semifinal win over Westfield, Manning tallied three goals and four assists to go along with three draw controls and two caused turnovers.  She set the Bears' single-season assist record as she eclipsed Paula Habel's mark of 47 assists set back in 2002.

Manning then scored five goals and added an assist as the Bears captured the NEWLA crown with a 19-5 victory over Castleton.  With her six-point performance, Manning broke Habel's single-season scoring mark as she became the first player in BSC's women's lacrosse history to reach the century mark for points in a season.

Through 18 games this season, Manning has scored 52 goals and assisted on 49 others for a total of 101 points. She also has 62 draw controls to her credit. Manning leads the NEWLA in both scoring and assists and is fourth in draw controls and fifth in goals scored.

Manning is currently tied for sixth in all of Division III in total points and 11th in points per game (5.61).  She is also tied for seventh in total assists and 11th in assists per game (2.72).

As a team, the Bears lead all of Division III in scoring offense with 19.61 goals per game.  They are also second in total points (536) and average scoring margin (+10.33 gpg), and tied for 13th in winning percentage (.778). 

The Bears' NEWLA championship was the program's third overall and first since the 2003 season.  Bridgewater competed as an independent women's lacrosse program from 2005 to 2007 before rejoining the NEWLA prior to the start of this season.

BSC is the top seed in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament which gets underway on Wednesday afternoon. The Bears, who are the top seed in the seven-team tournament, will receive a first round bye and will host the semifinals and championship game on Saturday, May 10th and Sunday, May 11th.