Women's Lacrosse Pulls Away for 16-11 Win Over Southern Maine

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team posted a 16-11 victory over visiting University of Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon at rain-soaked Swenson Field.

The Bears improve to 3-4 on the season, while the visiting Huskies fall to 3-3. The two teams were meeting for just the second time overall and first since 1976.

Senior midfielder Delaney Langton (Scituate, R.I.) paced Bridgewater State with four goals, while graduate midfielder Kelsi Brennan (Dedham, Mass.) checked in with three markers and an assist. Senior attack Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.) added three goals for the Bears who also received two goals and an assist from freshman attack Nina Liquori (Agawam, Mass.) and a pair of later strikes from senior attack Lindsay Brown (East Longmeadow, Mass.).

Freshman midfielder Kate Colvin (Winchester, Mass.) netted a game-high five goals for Southern Maine, while senior attack Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine) contributed three goals for the Huskies and freshman midfielder Emily Baker (Limerick, Maine) scored twice.

Southern Maine jumped out to a 5-1 lead 6 ½ minutes into the contest as Baker and Shanks each scored twice for the Huskies during that span. The Bears rallied tallying three of the next four goals including a pair from Liquori to make it a 6-4 game at the end of one. Liquori's second goal came with just 18 seconds showing on the scoreboard.

Back-to-back markers from junior midfielder Katie O'Brien (Pembroke, Mass.) and Tracy to open the second quarter with senior attack Lily Carson (Medford, Mass.) providing both assists knotted the score at 6-6. Colvin answered just moment later to reclaim the lead for the Huskies.

The Bears scored twice in the final three minutes of the first half to take the lead for the first time in the game. Langton netted an unassisted tally at the 2:21 mark. Then, out of a timeout, Brennan converted off a nice feed from senior attack Jacqueline DeLorey (Westwood, Mass.) with just 31 seconds remaining to give the hosts an 8-7 advantage heading into the intermission.

The third quarter featured three ties with Colvin scoring three times for the Huskies including an unassisted strike with 3:22 remaining in the period to knot the game at 10-10. Brennan notched her second goal of the quarter with DeLorey collecting the assist to put the Bears back on top, 11-10, with just 22 seconds showing on the clock.

An unassisted goal by Langton to open the fourth quarter gave the Bears their first muti-goal cushion of the afternoon. Shanks got one back for the Huskies at the 8:27 mark off an assist from sophomore midfielder Paige Rinaldi (Freeport, Maine) to pull the visitors to within one at 12-11.

The rest of the period belonged to Bridgewater State as the Bears reeled off four unanswered goals in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the contest, including a pair from Brown, to pull away for the 16-11 victory.

Bridgewater finished with a 32-21 shot advantage for the game as well as a 26-14 edge in ground balls, while Southern Maine won the draw control battle, 17-14.

Colvin led all players with ten draw controls, while freshman midfielder Hannah Bowlby (Dalton, Mass.) recorded seven draw controls to lead the Bears.

Brennan led the BSU defensive effort with five caused turnovers, including the 100th of her career, to go along with three ground balls.

BSU junior goalkeeper Olivia Kerrigan (Braintree, Mass.) made six saves to record her second win of the season between the pipes. Kerrigan also corralled a game-high five ground balls.

Sophomore netminder Cece Racine (Lewiston, Maine) turned aside ten shots in the setback for Southern Maine. Junior defender Maeve McGarrity (Scarborough, Maine) forced four turnovers and scooped up a pair of ground balls to lead the USM defensive effort.

In upcoming action, the Bears entertain Wellesley College on Wednesday night at seven o'clock. The Huskies are off until next Saturday afternoon when they host Salem State University at one.

Notes: Brennan became the third player in BSU women's lacrosse history to record 100 career caused turnovers as she joins Taylor Clancy (146) and Lauren Geary (139).