Women's Lacrosse Falls to Coast Guard in Season Opener, 8-6

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The visiting U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's lacrosse team edged Bridgewater State University, 8-6, on Tuesday night at rainy Swenson Field. The game marked the season opener for Bridgewater State.

Coast Guard improves to 2-0 on the season with the win, while Bridgewater State falls to 0-1.

Sophomore midfielder Katherine Pittman (Nantucket, Mass.) tallied two goals and an assist to lead Coast Guard, while junior attack Haley Howard (Wilton, Conn.) also scored twice for the visitors.

Sophomore attack Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with a goal and two assists. BSU junior midfielder Emily Hiller (Marion, Mass.) and sophomore attack Jacqueline DeLorey (Westwood, Mass.) checked in with a goal and an assist apiece.

Bridgewater State led 3-2 at the break as junior midfielder Kelsi Brennan (Dedham, Mass.), senior midfielder Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) and senior attack Hayley White (Dracut, Mass.) found the back of the net for the hosts. White's marker, which broke the 2-2 tie, came with just 45 seconds remaining in the stanza. Junior midfielders Etta Davis (Great Falls, Va.) and Haley McCue (Arnold, Md.) scored for Coast Guard in the opening stanza.

Tracy found the back of the net off a nice feed from Hiller 2:41 into the second half to give Bridgewater State a two-goal cushion. Coast Guard answered with three straight unassisted tallies by freshman midfielder Catarina Goncalves (Easton, Conn.), sophomore attack Maddie Rizzuto (Yardley, Pa.) and Pittman to jump ahead, 5-4, with just over 19 minutes left to play. The strikes by Goncalves and Pittman both came on the free position.

DeLorey knotted the tied the score at 5-5 off an assist from Tracy with 8:36 showing on the scoreboard, but Howard answered for the visitors two minutes later with Pittman setting up the goal. Bridgewater tied things up, 6-6, just 50 seconds later as Hiller converted a free position attempt.

Pittman potted the game-winner for Coast Guard with 3:46 left to play and Howard added an insurance tally off an assist from Rizzuto with 2:50 showing on the scoreboard to round out the scoring.

Bridgewater State finished with a slight 23-22 shot advantage for the game as well as an 11-5 edge in draw controls. Coast Guard held a 20-16 advantage in ground balls and went 3-for-7 on free position attempts. There were seven yellow cards issued in the game.

Junior netminder Mary Budri (Falmouth, Maine) turned aside ten shots to record her second win of the season between the pipes for Coast Guard. Senior goalkeeper Hayley Barner (Westwood, Mass.) made nine saves in the setback for Bridgewater State.

Budri and Davis led all players with five ground balls apiece, while Brennan recorded a game-best seven draw controls.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday at noon. Bridgewater State hosts Mount Holyoke College, while Coast Guard entertains Connecticut College.