SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Western New England University women's lacrosse team used a 9-0 second half run to pull away from Curry College and earn a 19-10 victory this afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Golden Bear Stadium.
With the win, Western New England climbs back above .500 in conference play, improving to 4-3 (10-5 overall). Curry falls to 3-3 in the CCC and 10-5 overall with the loss.
Senior Brooke Kumnick (Granby, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with a game-high eight points (six goals, two assists), while classmate Taylor Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and sophomore Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) added seven each.
Senior Emma Norden (Belchertown, Mass.) turned in a strong all-around effort, finishing with three points (two goals, one assist) to go with six ground balls, five caused turnovers and five draw controls.
Sophomore goalie Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) made 11 saves on the 20 shots that she faced, her ninth 10+ save performance this season.
Junior Malorie Knowlton (Norfolk, Mass.) paced the visiting Colonels with a team-high six goals, while classmate Kelly Parker (Branford, Conn.) registered a hat trick and senior Alexis Cran (Branford, Conn.) dished out four assists.
Curry held an early 3-2 lead and managed to stay within three goals throughout the first half. The Colonels faced an 8-6 deficit at the break following Parker's 52nd goal of the season with just under two minutes remaining in the opening period.
Scialdone notched her 60th tally of the season 33 seconds into the second half, and Knowlton answered for the visitors just 27 seconds later, but it would mark Curry's last goal for over 18 minutes.
Winer connected with Kumnick at the 27:36 mark, sparking Western New England's decisive 9-0 run that saw the Golden Bears open up an 18-7 lead with 13:18 left in the contest. Kumnick and Scialdone scored three goals each during the run, and Kumnick also handed out a pair of assists.
Senior Hanna Peper (Wayland, Mass.) halted the run with 10:10 on the clock as the Colonels scored three consecutive goals, but their deficit was too much to overcome.
Junior defender Alexa Kimker (Waltham, Mass.) found the back of the net for the Golden Bears with 2:27 remaining, capping the scoring in the game.
Curry won 19-of-31 draw controls, but Western New England held a 30-25 advantage in shots and a 24-17 edge in ground balls while going 19-for-22 on clears.
The Golden Bears will be back in action on Sunday, when Williams visits Springfield for a non-conference contest, while Curry travels to Gordon for a CCC game on Saturday.
(Courtesy of the Western New England Sports Information Department)
