Women's Lacrosse Posts 22-12 MASCAC Win over Salem State

SALEM, Mass. – Senior midfielder Emily Hiller (Marion, Mass.) and freshman attack Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) each netted a game-high six goals to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to a 22-12 victory over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe Salem State University on Saturday evening at Alumni Field.

The Bears improve to 2-3 on the season, while the host Vikings fall to 0-3. BSU women's lacrosse is now 11-0 all-time versus Salem State. The game was originally a MASCAC game, but the Vikings were forced to cancel their final two games due to COVID-19 and were removed from the conference standings.

Hiller added an assist to go along with a game-best six draw controls and four ground balls, while Herrington's six strikes marked a career-high.

The Bears also received three goals, an assist and five draw controls from junior attack Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.) as well as two goals, an assist and a game-best six draw controls by senior midfielder Kelsi Brennan (Dedham, Mass.). Junior midfielder Hayley Carron (Hopedale, Mass.) checked in with two goals and a helper, and junior attack Lily Carson (Medford, Mass.) added a pair of strikes.

Bridgewater State scored the first six goals of the game as six different Bears found the back of the net. Herrington's free position shot made the score 6-0 at the 19:12 mark. The Vikings responded by tallying five of the next six markers, including a pair from senior midfielder Kirsten Bradley (Peabody, Mass.), to make it a 7-5 game with just under ten minutes remaining in the first half.

A pair of strikes by Hiller was answered by two goals from senior attack Tara McLaughlin (Woburn, Mass.) as the Salem deficit remained at two. Herrington capped off the first-half scoring to give the Bears a 10-7 lead at the break.

Bradley again cut the deficit to two (10-8) 2:04 into the second session. The Bears, however, received four straight goals from Carson, Hiller, Brennan and Herrington to open up a 14-8 lead. Salem would get no closer than five goals the rest of the way. The final score of 22-12 also proved to be the Bears' biggest lead of the game.

McLaughlin paced the Vikings with four goals and a pair of assists, while Bradley finished with team-high five goals.

Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Kerrigan (Braintree, Mass.) picked up her second win of the season for the Bears as she turned aside five shots in 30 minutes of action. Freshman netminder Laura Giovaniello (Walpole, Mass.) played the second half and made three saves. Sophomore Charlotte Orth (Bourne, Mass.) stopped 19 shots between the pipes for Salem State.

The Bears outshot the Vikings, 45-29. Bridgewater State also finished with a 22-14 advantage in draw controls (13-5 second half) as well as a 22-13 edge in ground balls.

Up Next: The Bears entertain MASCAC rival Westfield State University on Thursday night at 7:30. The Vikings travel to conference foe Framingham State University next Saturday evening for a six o'clock game with the Rams.