Golden Bears top Seahawks in regular season finale

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team wrapped up its regular season slate with a 20-12 victory over Salve Regina University on Wednesday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.

Top Performers
Western New England was led by junior Eileen Ruby (New Fairfield, Conn.) and senior Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.), who recorded a combined 16 points and accomplished career milestones in the triumph. Ruby finished with four goals and five assists, in the process surpassing 100 career points, while Breen scored seven goals, including the 100^th of her career.

Sophomore Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) and freshman Hannah Jarvis(Westfield, Mass.) both contributed three-point efforts for the Golden Bears.

Salve Regina's offense was paced by sophomore Kaity Doherty(Portsmouth, R.I.) and junior Kiley Anderson (East Greenwich, R.I.), who tallied four points apiece, while freshman Nicole Smith (North Attleboro, Mass.) registered a hat trick and junior Maddie Villareal(Portsmouth, R.I.) finished with two goals and one assist.

Game Review
Salve struck first on a free position shot by Villareal 1:24 into the contest, before Western New England responded with goals from Breen, Miller and Ruby to take a 3-1 lead at the 20:55 mark.

After Salve senior Lindsey Smith (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored 45 seconds later to cut the Seahawks' deficit to one, Western New England utilized another 3-0 spurt, with Ruby setting up all three goals, to open up a 6-2 advantage.

Doherty notched her first of the contest midway through the half, but the Golden Bears dominated the rest of the way, scoring five unanswered goals over the final 14:24 of the frame to extend the lead to eight (11-3) at the break.

Western New England led by as much as nine (13-4) following Jarvis' unassisted tally at the 24:48 mark of the second half.

Salve battled its way back into the contest with a 5-0 run over a six-minute span that began with two goals from Doherty and ended with three straight from Smith, as the Seahawks closed the gap to four (13-9) with 15:03 to play.

The visitors got as close as three (15-12) after Anderson scored on a feed from Villareal at the 5:02 mark, but Western New England put an end to the comeback bid with five unanswered goals to end the contest.

Notes
• Western New England won the draw control battle 20-12, led by junior Madison Lemire (Ellington, Conn.), who secured a game-high nine draws.
• The Golden Bears outshot the Seahawks 47-35, including 25-13 in the first half.

Up Next
Western New England (9-8, 4-4 CCC) earns the fifth seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament, and the Golden Bears will travel to No. 4 seeded Curry College in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Salve Regina (7-6, 3-5 CCC) finishes sixth and will be on the road at No. 3 UNE for the opening round of the CCC playoffs.