Women's Lacrosse Drops 18-10 Decision in ECAC Final

Box Score | ECAC New England Tournament Bracket

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. --- The third seeded Western New England Golden Bears (17-5) captured the 2008 ECAC Division III New England Women’s Lacrosse Championship with an 18-10 victory over top seed and host Bridgewater State College (15-5) this afternoon at Swenson Field.

Junior midfielder Lindsey Fenton (Pelham, MA) was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as she finished the game with six goals, one assist and six draw controls. For the tournament Fenton registered 14 goals, two assists, eight ground balls and 14 draw controls.

WNEC jumped out to a 7-2 lead, highlighted by four goals by Fenton. The Bears answered with a 6-1 run during a seven minute span late in the first half. Freshman attack Courtney Lennon (Medfield, MA) potted three goals during the run and sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) notched the tying goal with 39 seconds left (8-8). Fenton, however, scored on a free position shot with 18 seconds left to make the score 9-8 at the break.

After freshman attack Jenny Jones (Framingham, MA) tied the game 9-9 early in the second half, Western New England dominated play the rest of the way. With a combination of outstanding goaltending and tremendous defensive pressure the Golden Bears allowed only one BSC goal for the rest of the game.

Senior midfielder Kayte Devine (New Fairfield, CT) finished with four goals and an assist to go along with four ground balls and five draw controls. Three of her four goals came in the second stanza. Devine finished with 11 goals and five assists for 16 points during the tournament.

Freshman goaltender Marissa Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights, NY) was impressive between the pipes for WNEC as she turned aside 11 shots including seven free position attempts.

The Golden Bears outshot BSC 43-25, which included a 19-9 advantage in the second half. The teams were even in draw controls with 15 apiece. WNEC was 3-for-7 in free position attempts while the Bears were just 4-for-11.

Lennon and Jones added three markers apiece for Bridgewater State while senior midfielder Alison Gugliotta (Norwood, MA) finished with two goals and two assists. Manning had a great all-around game with two goals, three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.

BSC sophomore netminder Meghan Griffin (Billerica, MA) registered 13 saves while facing 43 shots.

With her three goals, Jones set the Bears single-season goal scoring record as she surpassed Ann Sylvia’s 1999 mark of 65 goals. Jones finished the season with 67 goals. Manning ended up with a school record 105 points this season, while senior midfielder Lauryn Serratore (Norwood, MA) ended the 2008 campaign with a record 86 draw controls.