Seahawks drop Golden Bears in regular season finale; claim fourth seed in playoffs

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 25, 2017) – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team fell to Salve Regina University, 9-8, in the regular season finale for both teams on Tuesday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Golden Bear Stadium.

Top Performers
• Junior Rachel Canning (Lincoln Park, N.J.) led the way for the Golden Bears with a game-high six goals on 11 shots, nine of which were on target.
• Graduate midfielder Emma Norden (Belchertown, Mass.) netted two goals to go with six ground balls, four caused turnovers and two draw controls.

• Freshman Maddie Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) fueled the Salve Regina offense with five points (four goals, one assist), while classmate Stefanie Salisbury (Cranston, R.I.) tallied two goals and junior Katie Kline (Brookfield, Conn.) finished with one goal, one assist, seven draw controls, four ground balls and one caused turnover.

Game Review
• Canning got the Golden Bears on the board with a free position goal 20 seconds into the contest, and the two teams traded goals over the next 10+ minutes with Western New England regaining a 3-2 edge at the 18:07 mark on Canning's second of the game.
• Villareal found the back of the net midway through the half, sparking a 3-0 run that saw Salve Regina claim a 5-3 advantage with 7:15 remaining in the period.
• Canning brought the Golden Bears back to within a goal (5-4) with 3:02 on the clock, and Western New England trailed by the same margin at halftime.
• The Seahawks extended their lead to three (7-4) with a pair of goals early in the second half, but the Golden Bears fought back to tie the contest at 7-7 with a 3-0 run that featured two goals by Canning (20:21, 18:30) and one by Norden (11:57).
• Villareal put Salve Regina back in front (8-7) at the 9:35 mark, before netting an insurance goal with 6:35 remaining in regulation.
• Canning's sixth and final tally with just under six minutes left in the contest made it a one-goal game (9-8). The junior put a shot on target in the final minute, but Salve Regina freshman goalie Bridget Newbury (Bridgewater, Mass.) was there to make the save and preserve the win for the visitors.

Notes
• Salve Regina outshot Western New England 25-17 and held a 13-6 advantage in draw controls.
• Canning leads the CCC with 55 goals this season.

Up Next
Western New England (6-11, 3-5 CCC) will open the upcoming CCC Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will be on the road Saturday at 3 p.m. at third-seeded University of New England. Fourth-seeded Salve Regina (9-6, 5-3 CCC) will host No. 5 seed Gordon on Saturday at 1 p.m.