Golden Bears Defeat Castleton, 16-12, for Third Consecutive Victory

Taylor Scialdone, Tori Cirocco lead Western New England with five goals each

CASTLETON, Vt. – Senior captains Taylor Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Tori Cirocco (Carmel, N.Y.) scored five goals each as the Western New England University women's lacrosse team posted a 16-12 victory at Castleton University this afternoon in non-conference action at Spartan Stadium.

Scialdone finished with a game-high eight points (five goals, three assists) while Cirocco had six (five goals, one assist) in the Golden Bears' (3-1) third consecutive victory. Senior Brooke Kumnick (Granby, Conn.) and sophomore Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) were also key offensive contributors, as Kumnick registered five points (two goals, three assists) and Winer dished out a game-high five assists.

Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Defensive Player of the Week Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) stopped eight of the 20 shots that she faced, earning the win, while Castleton senior goalie Meghan Els (Commack, N.Y.) also made eight saves in a losing effort.

Senior Brianna MacKay (Randolph, Vt.) paced the Spartan offense with a team-high four goals, three of which came in the second half. Classmate Maria Ploof (Middlebury, Vt.) also totaled four points (two goals, two assists), while juniors Grace Johnson (South Burlington, Vt.) and Tiffany Danyow (Middlebury, Vt.) netted two goals each.

Five different Golden Bears found the back of the net over the first 5:39 of the game as the visitors opened up an early 5-1 advantage. Scialdone got it started with her team-leading 12^th goal of the season just 16 seconds into the contest, while senior Ashley Brunner (Stratford, Conn.), Cirocco, Kumnick and sophomore Emily Dolan (Merrick, N.Y.) also got in on the action. Western New England added another goal at the 23:11 mark, as Winer set up Cirocco for her second of the game, but the Spartans answered with a 3-0 run to cut their deficit to two (6-4).

Castleton was able to pull to within one (8-7) by halftime as Johnson scored twice in the final minute of the period. The Golden Bears regained the momentum early in the second half, however, as Cirocco set up Scialdone for her third of the afternoon at the 25:05 mark, before freshman Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) recorded her first collegiate goal three minutes later to give the visitors a 10-7 advantage.

The Spartans managed to stay in the game, trailing 11-10 following a MacKay tally with 16:17 remaining, but Western New England stretched the margin back to five (15-10) with a 4-0 run over the next ten minutes. MacKay added two late goals for Castleton, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Golden Bears held on for the road victory.

Western New England now heads to Florida for games against Rowan and Fitchburg State next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, while the Spartans host the University of New England next Wednesday.