Women's Lacrosse Opens 2015 Season With 12-10 Overtime Win At Roberts Wesleyan

Rochester, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport women's lacrosse team made its long awaited 2015 debut on Saturday afternoon, as the Purple Knights opened both the their regular season and East Coast Conference schedules with a see-saw 12-10 overtime victory against the host Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks.  UB is 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the ECC. RWC ups it overall record to 2-3, and the Redhawks are 0-1 in conference play.  Seniors Emily Catalano (N. Babylon, N.Y.) and Gabrielle Valela (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) scored the UB goals in overtime to help lift the Purple Knights to the win finding the back of the net with 2:39 (Catalano) and 1:40 (Valela) to play in extra time.  Valela led Bridgeport in scoring on the day with four goals, and Catalano chipped in three markers.

Trailing 6-5 at halftime, the Purple Knights battled back to take a 9-7 lead with 15:37 to when senior Shealyn Scully (Huntington, N.Y.) scored on a free position shot.  The Redhawks would then score the next three goals to take a 10-9 lead before Scully would score again with just 1:54 to play in regulation to tie things up at 10-10, and that would be the score heading into overtime.

Also scoring goals for the winners in their chilly season opener were sophomore Lauren Mengel (Gilbertsville, Pa) with two and freshman Abigail Benesh (Horseheads, N.Y.) with one.

Junior Megan Carney (Norwalk, Conn.) made 11  saves in goal to record the win for UB.

Loren Dunn led Roberts Wesleyan with five goals on the day.

Up next, the UB women's lacrosse team is scheduled to open its home schedule versus Caldwell College on Wednesday afternoon at Knights Field.