CLERMONT, Fla. – Four players tallied two goals and the Bridgewater (Virginia) College women’s lacrosse team controlled the draw as the Eagles got back on track with an 11-8 non-conference victory on Tuesday afternoon, March 11, against Westfield State.
The Owls got on the board first eight minutes into the contest as Caroline Smart scored off of a free-position attempt to send Westfield State to a 1-0 lead.
Following the Westfield State goal, the Eagles wasted little time in netting the equalizer. With 26:34 to play in the first half Caroline Fletcher dished a pass to Paige Hennessy who fired a shot into the back of the net to tie the score, 1-1.
Bridgewater took its first lead of the game just over three minutes later when Fletcher netted an unassisted goal to build a 2-1 Eagles lead.
Westfield State quickly tied the game up on a goal from the stick of Lee Meskevich to tie the contest up at two goals apiece.
The Eagles regained the lead shortly after on a free-position as freshman Claire Palermo-Re found the back of the net to build a 3-2 Bridgewater lead.
Both teams had opportunities in the middle portion of the first half but it was Bridgewater adding an insurance goal with nine minutes to go in the opening frame when Palermo-Re got on the board for the second time on the day with an unassisted goal to build a 4-2 lead for the Eagles.
Westfield State broke up the Bridgewater goal spurt with a Stephanie Lenhardt goal to cut the deficit back to a single goal at a 4-3 tally. But Bridgewater owned the remainder of the opening frame.
Fletcher got back on the scoreboard with 4:11 to play in the first half to extend the lead back to two goals, then freshman Meredit Wimbrow scored the final goal of the half off of a Fletcher assist to send the Eagles to the break with a 6-3 advantage.
Bridgewater dominated play in the first half, outshooting the Owls by a 17-7 margin, while owning an 8-2 advantage on the draw.
The Eagles opened the second frame with a goal just 34 ticks into the second when Jesse Colligan scored on a free-position shot to build a 7-3 lead for the Eagles.
With 24:38 to play in the contest, Hennessy added a goal on another free-position attempt to extend the Bridgewater advantage to 8-3.
After the Bridgewater goal, Westfield State answered with four of the next five goals to move to within striking distance at a 9-7 tally with 12 minutes to play.
Following a timeout, Bridgewater answered with two goals to build an 11-7 lead with 6:40 to play.
Westfield State scored with three minutes to play in the game but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles moved back to above .500 on the year.
Fletcher led the Eagles with two goals and two assists. Freshman goalie Rachel Gruber picked up the win after turning away six Westfield State shots.
Lenhardt and Smart tallied two goals each the Owls. Mimi Khampaeng picked up the loss after recording seven saves on the day.
The Owls own a 1-2 record and return to action on Thursday when they play Nazareth (N.Y.) College at 7:00 p.m. the National Training Center in Clermont.
