Women's Lacrosse falls in MASCAC opener to BSU 24-11

Bridgewater, MA- Melissa Renauld scored 8 goals to lead the Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team to a 24-11 win over the MCLA Trailblazers tonight in the MASCAC opener for both teams.  The Bears improve to 5-5 overall and are now 1-0 in the league.  The Trailblazers drop to 3-4 on the season and are 0-1 in the MASCAC.

The Bears raced out to an early 7-0 lead behind Renauld as she tallied three goals in the opening spurt.  MCLA would fight back behind Natalie Caney and Mackenzie Cutler who each scored a pair of goals to slice the lead to just 8-4.  The Bears would answer by outscoring MCLA 6-1 in the final minutes of the half to take a 14-5 lead at halftime.  

BSU held a 23-9 shot advantage in the opening period of play.

MCLA would get goals from Cutler and Caney to open the second stanza to close within 14-7, but the Bears once again had the answer.  This time, a 9-1 spurt to put the game out of reach as they built a 23-8 lead.  The Trailblazers wouldn't threaten from there.  Renauld once again was in the middle of the spurt scoring the first two goals of the run. 

The teams would trade goals over the final minutes to settle on the final score.

Renauld posted her 8 goals on just 10 shots for the Bears.  Elizabeth Ettridge, Alex Lynch, and Hayley White all added three markers for the Bears.  Allie Forman stopped three shots to earn the win between the pipes for BSU.

Cutler ended with five goals to lead the Trailblazers while Caney would end with four.  Caney added 6 groundballs for MCLA.  Julia Coughlin started in goal and absorbed the loss for MCLA.

The Trailblazers are off until Saturday when they return to Shewcraft field to face the Fitchburg State Falcons resuming MASCAC play.