BOSTON, Mass. – Western New England University served the Wentworth women's lacrosse team its first loss since its season opener, 21-10, on Sunday afternoon at Sweeney Field.
Western New England jumps above .500 at 4-3 overall, and starts the Commonwealth Coast Conference portion of its schedule at 1-0. The Leopards drop to 6-1 this season and 0-1 in the conference opener.
Freshman Liz Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) won the opening draw, leading up to WNE's first goal from classmate Hannah Jarvis (Westfield, Mass.) 24 seconds into the contest. Just 35 seconds later, sophomore Reilley Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) extended the gap to 2-0 with a goal from junior Ariella Ruggiero (Valhalla, N.Y.). Jarvis netted her second of the game at 27:47, before Wentworth got two back to pull within one, 3-2, on unassisted tallies from freshman Sarah Galan (Colchester, Conn.) and senior Brooke Paradis (Pelham, N.H.). Paradis struck again in the 15th minute after back-to-back points from the Golden Bears, but WNE pulled away with three goals in a 39-second window for a 9-3 advantage. Both teams traded a pair of goals before halftime, as the visitors held an 11-5 lead after the break.
The Golden Bears kept up its offensive pace in the second half, outscoring Wentworth 10-5 in the final 30 minutes while going almost perfect in transition with 8-of-9 clears. Paradis scored four of her six goals in the second half, but Western New England hit running clock with 19:58 left in regulation after an unassisted goal from Mazza.
Paradis led all players with six goals and won eight draw controls, while Galan rounded out top scoring for Wentworth with two goals. Junior Kaitlyn Darveau (South China, Maine) and sophomore Emily Rogers (Pembroke, Mass.) each found the back of the net once in the effort. Rogers additionally won seven draw controls.
Sophomore Lily Kuhns (Gloucester, Mass.) suffered her first loss in net of 2019 with 10 saves in the full 60 minutes played. Sophomore Kaitlyn Marchant (Londonderry, N.H.) improves to 4-2 in the cage for the Golden Bears with nine saves in just under 51 minutes of action. Freshman Marissa Sergio (Lake Grove, N.Y.) made one save in 9:08 minutes of relief.
Wentworth resumes conference play on Thursday with a 4:00 p.m. game at Curry.
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