Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Gordon College used the last 16 minutes of the 1st half to break away from a close game with seven unanswered goals, on the way to a 15-6 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's lacrosse victory over the University of New England on Wednesday afternoon (Apr. 9) at the Big Blue Turf.

The win snapped a two-game skid for the Fighting Scots, who improve to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in CCC outings. It was a third consecutive setback for the Nor'easters, dropping Big Blue back to 6-6 on the year and 1-3 in league matches.

Gordon was paced by sophomore Jessica Castelline with four goals. Senior Kelly Linehan and sophomore Bailey Grinnell each added three, while two came from seniors Stephanie Fitzgerald and Anna Blomberg. Fitzgerald (9) and Blomberg (6) combined with junior Abby Illian to secure 19 of the game's 23 draw controls.

Senior goalie Danielle Maguire played a large role in limiting Big Blue to just 1-of-8 on free-position shots, and finished with 11 saves.

UNE received a pair of goals from junior Gina Newsome, as well as a goal and two assists from classmate Nikki Smith. Senior Hannah Tavella had a game-high three caused turnovers. Between the pipes, sophomore Courtney Kendall registered 12 stops for the Nor'easters, who were out-shot by a 32-21 margin.

Linehan sandwiched a goal by Big Blue sophomore Katie Cawley between two of her own to give the visitors an edge just over three minutes in, but goals by Newsome and Tavella swung the advantage over to the hosts. Castelline and Newsome traded scores to make it 4-3 in favor of UNE with 17 minutes left in the opening period.

Castelline followed by tallying the next three over a five-minute span to spark a 7-0 run that left Gordon with a 10-4 cushion at halftime.

After Linehan extended the gap to seven right out of the gate in the 2nd half, UNE junior Jessica Deedon and then Smith struck for the hosts to cut the deficit to five (11-6) with 22:25 to play. But the Fighting Scots managed to control posession the rest of the way and prevent the Nor'easters from getting any closer.

Both squads are back in action on Saturday. Gordon is slated to host Wentworth Institute of Technology at noon, and Big Blue will entertain Nichols College beginning at 4 p.m.