FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Bridgewater State University (13-8) defeated Saint Joseph's College (17-2), 16-9, in the First Round of the Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament on the campus of Bowdoin College on Saturday afternoon. Junior Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) netted four goals with an assist and a pair of caused turnovers in the loss.

Bridgewater State secured the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with the help of an early scoring surge, as the Bears kicked off the game with six unanswered goals over the opening nine minutes, an effort that proved to be the leading margin (10-4) going into intermission. The Monks put up a fight and played much better in the second stanza, but ultimately would not be able to overcome the early deficit.

The Bears, making their sixth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and seventh overall, move on to the second round and will face #4 Bowdoin College at Ryan Field on Sunday at 1:00 PM. For the Monks, who entered the tourney riding a team-record 17-game winning streak, the loss signals the end of the most successful season in program history.

For the Monks, freshman attack Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) netted three goals, junior attackMary Leasure (South Portland, Maine/McAuley) scored twice, sophomore Jackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) added an assist with three ground balls and three caused turnovers, and junior goalkeeper Michelle Cunha (Enfield, Conn.) totaled nine saves.

For the Bears, junior attack Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) registered four goals, two assists and a pair of caused turnovers, sophomore attack Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.) scored four goals with an assist, sophomore attack Alex King (Weymouth, Mass.) potted four markers, and junior midfielder Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) tallied three goals, six draw controls and three caused turnovers in the historic victory. Sophomore goalkeeper Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) made eight stops between the pipes for Bridgewater State.

Yowell lifted the Bears to 1-0 lead with her first of four scores on the day, hitting pay dirt on a free-position attempt just 21 seconds into the contest. The junior produced a carbon copy of the goal just over two minutes later, firing a free-position shot past Cunha to make it a 2-0 game with 27:35 left in the first half.

The Bears' scoring barrage continued with goals from King (22:47), Yowell (21:46) and freshman defender Brooke Buckner (Foxboro, Mass.) (21:09) before Gadbois finally put the Monks on the board with an unassisted strike at the 19:31 mark.

Unfortunately for the Monks, the team's first goal proved to be just a temporary delay in the Bears' offensive efforts, as King and Renauld netted the next two goals to lift Bridgewater State to an 8-1 cushion with 13:23 remaining in the opening period.

Saint Joseph's showed signs of life by scoring consecutive goals in a matter of 48 seconds, as Caiazzo (12:16) and Gadbois (11:28) netted unassisted markers to cut the Monks' deficit to 8-3. King followed with her third score of the game off a Yowell feed with 10:20 left in the first frame and Gadbois (5:55) and Renauld (3:49) traded goals in the final six minutes leading up to the break, accounting for the 10-4 score at halftime.

In the first half, Bridgewater State owned leads in shots (22-7) and draw controls (13-2) while Saint Joseph's held a slim 9-8 edge in ground balls. Cunha notched perhaps her best 30 minutes as a collegiate keeper, making all nine of her saves in the first frame.

Halftime adjustments seemed to pay off in the opening minutes of the second stanza, as the Monks controlled play until Gadbois scored her fourth of the game with 26:19 remaining. Any momentum gained by St. Joe's was quickly thwarted however, as the Bears won the ensuing draw control and King answered the Gadbois goal with her fourth of the afternoon just 17 seconds later and Yowell scored on a free-position attempt to make it a 12-5 game with 25:31 on the clock.

Despite efforts to the contrary, the Monks were unable to sustain pressure in the Bears' end as the New England Region counterparts swapped scores during the final 20 minutes of the contest.

Overall, Bridgewater State held advantages in shots (30-23) and draw controls (20-7) while Saint Joseph's maintained an 11-10 lead in ground balls on the afternoon. The Bears were successful on 10 of 13 clear attempts while the Monks were 12 for 21 on clearing bids in the losing effort.

Bridgewater State was 4-7 on free-position attempts while Saint Joseph's did not record a free-position shot in the tourney setback.