Women's Lacrosse Posts 16-10 Win Over UMass Dartmouth

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team ended a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night at Mazzaferro Field.

Sophomore Sophia Fleurent (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored four goals and added an assist as the Bears defeated the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 16-10.

BSU (2-6) improved to 16-1 against the Corsairs (3-5) since 1998 with a 10-0 record at home.

The 16-goal performance marked the Bears' highest scoring output this season. Eight different players found the back of the net for BSU and ten recorded at least one point.

Sophomore Taylor Carter (East Walpole, Mass.) scored three goals for the Bears while senior Ashley Silva (Rowley, Mass.) had two goals and two assists.

Sophomore Lizzy Deacon (Amesbury, Mass.) and freshman Kate Fitzpatrick (Methuen, Mass.) added a pair of goals each while junior Erin Henn (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) had four assists.

The Corsairs were led by graduate student Emma Terino (East Meadow, N.Y.) with two goals and four assists.

The game was tied, 4-4, after one period with freshman Carleigh Swenson (North Attleboro, Mass.), sophomore Abby Pitts (Lakeville, Mass., junior Maddy Allen (Whitman, Mass.)  and Terino scoring for UMass Dartmouth and Carter, Silva, Fleurent and Fitzpatrick getting the BSU goals.

The Bears twice trailed by two goals in the first period.

BSU went up, 6-4, early in the second period on goals by Fleurent and senior Katie Lamothe (Dartmouth, Mass.) before Terino cut the deficit to 6-5 at the half.

The Bears scored five of the first six goals in the third period for an 11-6 advantage.

Fitzpatrick, Carter, senior Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, Mass.) and Fleurent twice tallied BSU goals in a span of 6:15 while junior Jennifer Lins (Martinez, Calif.) had the Corsairs' score.

Allen and junior Katie Hague (Freetown, Mass.) then scored for UMass Dartmouth before Carter's goal with 2:43 to go in the period had BSU in front, 12-8.

The Bears had the first four goals of the final period with Deacon getting a pair and Silva and sophomore Jade Muñoz (Mendon, Mass.) adding a goal each. The goal for Muñoz marked her first in a BSU uniform and it came against her former team.

Freshman Cat Whitehouse (Newington, Conn.) and Swenson scored for the Corsairs in the final minute.

BSU sophomore goalkeeper Sara Skaff (Lowell, Mass.) stopped 11 shots for the win.

UMass Dartmouth sophomore Keira Bushey (Haverhill, Mass.) had nine saves.

Bridgewater held a 33-27 shot advantage for the game as well as a 23-12 edge in groundballs. The Bears went 20-for-24 on clear attempts while the Corsairs were just 7-for-13 on the clear.

UMass dominated the draw holding a 23-5 advantage in draw controls. The Corsairs were unable to convert on the free position going 0-for-8.

BSU was scheduled to play the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Wednesday, but that has been moved to April 15.

The Bears will open the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule Saturday at Anna Maria at 4 p.m.

UMass Dartmouth plays a Little East Conference game Friday against Plymouth State at 6 p.m.