Seahawks commit 29 turnovers in 18-10 loss to WNEC

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Freshman Kelsey Daniels (South Windsor, Conn.) tallied eight goals to propel the Western New England College women's lacrosse team to an 18-10 win over Salve Regina University in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) action Tuesday afternoon at Gaudet Field.

Senior Jeanmarie Barbato (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Katie Toomey (Northborough, Mass.) each picked up hat tricks for the Golden Bears, who improved to 5-3 on the season while remaining perfect (3-0) in conference play. Sophomores Megan Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Kelly Burke (Georgetown, Mass.) each scored three times for the Seahawks (2-6, 2-3 TCCC), who slipped to 1-7 all-time against WNEC.

The Golden Bears outshot the Seahawks 35-21 - including 22-9 in the first half - and induced 29 Salve Regina turnovers on the afternoon. As a result, they raced out to a 3-0 lead behind a pair of goals from Barbato and led 11-3 at the break. Daniels and Toomey each found the back of the net three times for WNEC in the first half while Clancy led the Seahawks with two goals and an assist.

Daniels opened the second half by scoring three times in the opening 3:32 to push the lead to 14-3 and her season goal total to 21. Salve Regina scored four of the next six goals to cut the deficit to nine (16-7) behind two from Burke and one each from Clancy and junior Sarah Livingston (Westford, Mass.). WNEC answered with a pair of goals to up its lead to 18-7 with less than seven minutes remaining, all but ending any hopes the Seahawks had of tying the game.

"We didn't execute our game plan. We really wanted to protect the ball, but instead committed a lot of silly turnovers," said Salve Regina head coach Jen Eldridge. "As a result, they were able to run away with the game. Still, there are things we can take from today's game moving forward. We still have a lot of conference games remaining."

Salve Regina held an 18-12 edge in draw controls, led by nine from sophomore Danielle Marconian (Belmont, Mass.). The Seahawks also won the ground ball battle, 15-13, behind a team-high three from juniors Mara-Lise Owen (Germantown, Md.) and Natalie Balletta (Leominster, Mass.). Owen also led SRU in caused turnovers with four.

For the Golden Bears, senior goalie Marissa Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) made three saves to earn the win and also collected a team-high three ground balls. She was replaced at the start of the second half by senior Erin Doherty (Westford, Mass.), who stopped four shots. Junior Nicole Poli (Medfield, Mass.) posted a team-high four caused turnovers.

The Seahawks return to action on Thursday when they travel to Rhode Island College for a 6 p.m. game. Western New England travels to Smith College for a 4:30 p.m. game on Thursday.