Strong Second Half Lifts Women's Lacrosse to 20-9 Win over Mt. Holyoke

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Attackers Jenny Jones (Framingham, Mass.) and Jill Caramello (Duxbury, Mass.) tallied five goals apiece to lead the Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to a 20-9 victory over Mount Holyoke College this afternoon at the Mount Holyoke Turf Field.

The Bears outscored the Lyons 10-0 in the second half to run their record to 5-0 on the year. It was the home opener for Mount Holyoke, which entered the contest riding a three game winning streak.

The Lyons were paced by sophomore midfielder Katya Planson (New Gloucester, Maine), who collected two goals, three draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Classmate Christina Horimoto (San Jose, Calif.) also found the back of the net twice, while senior midfielder Vika Planson (New Gloucester, Maine) chipped in with a pair of assists.

Mount Holyoke's remaining goals came from first year Liz Randolph (Southbury, Conn.), junior Hilary Bombard (Northampton, Mass.), senior Georgia Markell (Portsmouth, R.I.), sophomore Lindsey Kanno (Cranston, R.I.) and first year Brianne Phelan (Quincy, Mass.). Markell came up with three draw controls, while Bombard added three caused turnovers.

In addition to Jones and Caramello, Bridgewater State received an outstanding all-around effort from senior Courtney Lennon (Medfield, Mass.). The midfielder accounted for four goals, one assist, six caused turnovers and four ground balls. First year midfielder Taylor Clancy (Braintree, Mass.) struck for a pair of tallies, while junior attacker Kristin White (Pelham, Mass.) tacked on a goal and two helpers.

Neither side led by more than two goals, as the teams went back-and-forth in the opening period. After falling behind 2-0 one minute into the contest, Mount Holyoke answered with consecutive tallies by Planson and Markell. The Lyons enjoyed a 4-3 advantage after a Horimoto strike at the 21:43 mark.

Bridgewater responded with a 4-1 run to regain control, but goals by Phelan and Bombard evened the score at 7-7 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half. Consecutive tallies by Caramello put the Bears back in front 9-7 before Horimoto and Randolph strung together back-to-back goals to knot things up at 9-9 at the 1:05 mark.

From there, it was all Bridgewater State. Clancy gave the Bears a 10-9 edge in the final minute of the opening frame. Her team then exploded for 10 unanswered tallies in the second half to pull away.

Jones, who led the charge with three goals after the break, became just the third player in BSU women's lacrosse history to reach the 300-point milestone joning Shannon Manning (384 pts) and Paula Habel (336 pts).  She now how has 240 goal and 63 assists in her career for a total of 303 points.

Bridgewater State finished with a 39-18 advantage in the shot column and forced the Lyons into 32 turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) made four saves en route to her fifth win of the season. At the other end, first year Melissa Saale (Waterloo, Ill.) turned away 11 shots over the final 47 minutes.

Mount Holyoke (3-3, 0-0 NEWMAC) will open up its NEWMAC schedule on Saturday, when it visits Wellesley College at noon. Meanwhile, Bridgewater State (5-0, 0-0 NEWLA) is set to host Roger Williams on Monday at 6:00 p.m.