Women's Lacrosse Posts 16-10 Senior Day Win Over Keene State

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team tuned up for the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament with a non-conference victory.

The Bears finished the regular season by defeating Keene State College, 16-10, Saturday at Mazzaferro Field on Senior Night.

BSU (13-4) is the No. 4 seed in the MASCAC tournament and will host fifth-seeded Salem State University (9-8) in the quarterfinal round Tuesday at 4 p.m.

It marks the first time the Bears have won 13 games since doing so in 2015 when it played in the NCAA Division III tourney.

Senior Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Bears past the Owls (11-6) by scoring six goals and assisting on two others.

Gonsalves enters the tournament with team-highs in goals (62), assists (32) and points (94).

Graduate student Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) scored three goals, giving her 33 on the season.

Freshman Taylor Carter (Walpole, Mass.) netted a pair of goals, the first two of her collegiate career, and added two assists.

Junior Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) scored twice and has 47 goals while graduate student Riley Bina (Abington, Mass.) scored two goals.

Keene State, which plays in the Little East Conference, was led by junior Tess Brown (Londonderry, N.H.) with four goals and an assist.

The Bears are now 7-1 in the all-time series with the Owls. The teams met for the first time since 2015.

BSU had a 7-3 lead early in the second half before the Owls got within 7-6. The Bears then upped the lead to five goals by the end of the third period.

Keene State had its only lead at 1-0 when Brown scored 2:25 into the game.

Carter and Sylvia scored 29 seconds apart near the midway point of the first period for a 2-1 lead before freshman Lola Varricchione (Mansfield, Mass.) tied it with 4:19 to go.

The Bears took the lead for good with one second to go on a goal by Bina.

Harrington and senior Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) put BSU up, 5-2, early in the second period. After senior Chase Gengras (West Hartford, Conn.) scored for the Owls, Carter gave BSU a 6-3 lead at halftime, scoring with 4:35 remaining.

Gonsalves opened the second-half scoring 20 seconds in, but Brown scored twice and freshman Anna Maccarini (East Longmeadow, Mass.) to pull Keene State within 7-6.

Herrington responded with two goals in 1:47 and Gonsalves also scored for a 10-6 lead.

The Bears led, 12-7, going into the final period after goals by Sylvia and Gonsalves.

The closest the Owls got in the final 15 minutes was four goals as Gonsalves had three goals and Bina scored once for the Bears.

Freshman goalkeeper Sara Skaff (Lowell, Mass.) made 11 saves for BSU while senior Hannah Bowlby (Dalton, Mass.) had a team-best seven groundballs and five caused turnovers. Skaff now has 12 wins on the season which is tied for sixth among the Bears' single-season leaders.

Keene State junior goalkeeper Mabelle Bessett (Belchertown, Mass.) had 14 saves while playing nearly 53 minutes.

The Bears had a 16-12 edge in draw controls, a 40-29 advantage in shots and a 23-22 lead in groundballs. Freshman Sophia Fleurent (Fairhaven, Mass.) paced the Bears with seven draw controls and Sylvia checked in with five to go along with four caused turnovers. Brown led all players with nine draw controls.

The Owls went just 12 for 24 on clear attempts due to the stifling defensive pressure by the Bears in the transition game.

The two teams combined for 16 cards in the game with nine of those handed out to Keene State including six in the fourth quarter alone.

Prior to the game, nine players were honored on the field with Senior Night festivities.

Seniors playing their final regular-season game at home were Melanie McClay (Plymouth, Mass.), Mya Dupuy (Middleboro, Mass.), McIntyre, Chloe Bowman (Falmouth, Mass.), Gonsalves, Katie Murphy (Kingston, Mass.), Katy Shaw (Centerville, Mass.) and Bowlby.

Also honored was Bina, who is in her first season at BSU.

The Bears went 4-2 in the MASCAC, finishing a game out of first but will be seeded No. 4 due to the tiebreaker.

Worcester State and Westfield State went 5-1 while Framingham State tied with BSU at 4-2 but won the head-to-head matchup.

The Bears defeated their opening-round opponent, Salem State, 16-4, on April 16. The Vikings went 1-5 in the MASCAC.

Keene State will open the Little East tourney as the No. 4 seed and will host fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday.