Bears End Vikings Season

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Bridgewater State University advanced to the semifinal round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament as the fourth-seeded Bears cruised to an 19-6 quarterfinal round victory over fifth-seeded Salem State University on Tuesday afternoon at Swenson Field.

The Bears (9-8) will travel to top-seeded Westfield State University on Thursday afternoon to take on the Owls at four o'clock. The Vikings end the season with an overall record of 7-9.  Bridgewater is now 13-0 all-time versus Salem and 7-0 at home.

Thirteen different players scored for Bridgewater State with graduate midfielder Kelsi Brennan (Dedham, Mass.), senior attacks Lindsay Brown (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.), junior midfielder Katie O'Brien (Pembroke, Mass.), and freshman midfielders Sarah Lombard (Ipswich, Mass.) and Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.), leading the way with two goals apiece. Lombard also dished put a career-best and game-high three assists, while Brennan added an assist. Freshman attack Katy Shaw (Centerville, Mass.) checked in with a goal and two helpers.

Junior midfielder Taylor Sujko (Revere, Mass.) paced the visitors with two goals and assist. Sophomore attack Kaia Hollingsworth (Methuen, Mass.) added two goals for Salem, while senior midfielder Suzanne Stefanik (Dalton, Mass.) tallied a game-high six draw controls.

Trailing 2-1 early, Bridgewater State used a 7-0 run to take control of the game. Six different Bears scored during the spurt including a pair from McIntyre. After a Salem tally, Bridgewater closed out the first half with six straight goals, with O'Brien notching a pair, to take a 14-3 lead into the break.

Bridgewater netted the first four goals of the second half with Brown giving the Bears their biggest lead of the game, 18-3, with 12:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Bears held a decided 36-13 shot advantage for the game as well as a 23-13 edge in ground balls. The draw control battle was close with Bridgewater corralling 15 draws compared to 13 for Salem.

Brennan, McIntyre, senior midfielder Delaney Langton (Scituate, R.I.) and freshman midfielder Hannah Bowlby (Dalton, Mass.) notched three draw controls apiece, while Brennan and McIntyre each recorded three ground balls. Langton also forced two turnovers.

Junior Olivia Kerrigan (Braintree, Mass.) and sophomore Laura Giovaniello (Walpole, Mass.) combined to make three saves between the pipes for the Bears with Kerrigan picking up her fifth win of the season. Freshman netminder Sydney Franz (Pasadena, Md.) turned aside nine shots for the Vikings.

(Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information)