MEDFORD – Tufts University sprinted to a 13-2 lead in the first half and scored a 16-7 women's lacrosse victory over Bridgewater State College late Tuesday afternoon at Bello Field. Sophomore Courtney Thomas (Needham, MA) scored six times to lead the Tufts attack.

Bridgewater State (4-4) scored first when Katie DeMaio (Port Jefferson Station, NY) swept in a loose ball in front of the net just 39 seconds into the game. The Jumbos (5-4) scored the next five goals, including two by Thomas to lead 5-2 at the 24-minute mark. After a Bridgewater goal by junior tri-captain Alison Gugliotta (Norwood, MA) at 21:36, Tufts shut down the Bears for the remainder of the half while scoring eight consecutive goals. Thomas and first-year Emily Johnson (Yarmouth, ME) scored twice during the run.

The Bears rebounded to out-score Tufts 5-3 in the second half, but it was far from enough. They scored the first two goals of the half by Shannon Manning (Framingham, MA) and Gugliotta to cut the margin below 10 goals to 13-4. However, Tufts went up by 10 again on a goal by Maya Shoham (West Hartford, CT) at 20:30 and the second half wound down mostly on running time.

Johnson and junior Alyssa Corbett (Malvern, PA) both scored twice as Tufts had nine goal-scorers overall. Corbett also had two assists. Goalies Gillian Kline (Chevy Chase, MD) and Tracy Rittenour (Duxbury, MA) split the game with two and four saves, respectively.

DeMaio and Gugliotta both scored twice for Bridgewater State, who also used two goalies. Starter Chelsea Bracchi (Pembroke, MA) played 21 minutes and made 10 saves. She was relieved by Jess Cercone (Peabody, MA) who had three saves.

Tufts hosts Endicott on Thursday afternoon at 4:30. Bridgewater hosts Eastern Connecticut on Saturday at 1:00.

2007-04-10