Women’s Lacrosse Clipped by Wolves in Home Opener

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Western Connecticut attacker Madison Ratchford (Ridge, N.Y.) scored four goals and added two assists as the Wolves edged Westfield State 11-9 in the Owls home opener from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass. on Friday night.

Four Owls registered three-point nights with Kylie Buchanan (Westfield, Mass.) recording a team-high three goals. Mykenzie Black (Hopedale, Mass.) added two goals and an assist while Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.) and Arianna Andresen (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) each totaled one goal and two assists.

Ratchford scored three consecutive Wolves goals in the second half as part of her six-point effort. Victoria Gracy (Bethel, Conn.) notched four points with three goals and an assist. Faye Junge (Centerport, N.Y.) chipped in two assists and one goal for WestConn which improved to a perfect 5-0 in the early season.

WestConn attacker Isabella Pota (East Meadow, N.Y.) gave the Owls trouble in draws as she piled up nine draw controls on the night as the Wolves held a sizeable 17-7 advantage in draws.

Less than a minute into the contest, Ratchford handed a pass off to Gracy who turned the corner and ran downhill towards the net, depositing the game's opening goal. Savannah Kom (Danbury, Conn.) doubled the Wolves lead with 10:29 left in the first.

The Owls used a pair of free position goals to trim the Wolves lead to one goal later in the frame, the first coming from Samantha Dyer (Dover, N.H.) followed by Black at the 3:05 mark in the quarter. Westfield pushed ahead in the closing minutes of the first with Buchanan tallying her first of the night, then with just four seconds left, Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) converted the Owls third free position goal of the game, taking a one-goal lead into the second.

WestConn closed the second quarter on a high note after both teams failed to find the back of the net over the first nine minutes of the period. The Wolves rallied with four of the final five goals of the half punctuated by Morgan Brace (Brewster, N.Y.) capitalizing on a player-up goal with 11 seconds left to put WestConn ahead 7-5 entering the break.

Both teams traded goals in the third period with the Wolves holding a two-goal lead into the final quarter. Ratchford gave WestConn the largest lead of the night for either side with her fourth goal scored 1:44 into the fourth. A great setup from Andresen to Buchanan cut the deficit to two goals before the Wolves again answered the Owls marker with one of their own off the stick of Gracy with 6:31 remaining.

Andresen potted her first goal of the evening with 2:01 to play but were unable to rally as time expired after an Owls turnover that was eventually recovered by Mia Negus (Rocky Point, N.Y.).

Western Connecticut outshot Westfield 27-24 on the night, including a 20-10 edge in the first half which allowed the Wolves to run out to a lead. Wolves keeper Molly Bresnahan (Groton, Conn.) was strong in net, making 10 saves. Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass.) saw a large volume of shots in the opening 30 minutes, collecting nine saves on 16 shots. Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) entered in the second half and made two saves.

Westfield started off going 3-5 in free position shots before going cold to the tune of 0-6 with Bresnahan bearing down in the cage for the Wolves.

Westfield State (0-3) will travel down to Florida tomorrow in preparation of a pair of games as part of the Spring Fling Tournament in Panama City Beach, Florida as the Owls meet Bowdoin on Wednesday at 1:00 P.M. Western Connecticut (5-0) will visit Williams College on Tuesday at 4:00 P.M.