BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- As the No. 6 seed in this year's ODAC Tournament, the Bridgewater College women's lacrosse team already clinched its first home postseason game since 1997, but with a 14-12 win over No. 7 seed, Averett, the Eagles claim their first home postseason win since 1992 and advance to the quarterfinals of the league bracket.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 14, Averett 12
Records: Bridgewater 10-9, Averett 9-5 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars found the back of the net first on a goal from Raven Felder just three minutes into the game, but Madeline Magill quickly matched that off a pass fom Ashley Venit to make it 1-1 with 10 minutes left in the period. The two sides swapped goals again as Kelsey Steckroth put AU in front, but Annika Benson tied the game up at 2-2 not even 30 seconds later. As was the case over the entire game, more back and forth action saw Faith Bowlin score to elevate Averett to a 3-2 lead, but Magill got her second of the quarter to tied it up once again. Elizabeth Peasley notched her first of the game with 40 seconds left to give the Cougars a 4-3 lead after the first 15 minutes.
• Bowlin gave Averett a two-goal cushion but Magill and Venit connected to make the score 5-4 in favor of the visitors. Steckroth scored two straight as the Cougars went up 7-4 with five minutes and change left in the fist half. Venit was fed a pass by Aunnie Hacker and Caris Cianelli found the back of the net on an assist from Venit to get the Eagles back to within one with the halftime score 7-6.
• Three minutes into the third quarter, Felder scored again to maintain a two-goal advantage, but Lauren Roberts got her name on the score sheet with an unassisted tally at the 10:48 mark in the third. Cianelli got her second of the game to tie the game at 8-8, but that was short lived as Peasley scored her second of the contest to give AU the lead once again.Roberts got the goal back to tie things up at 9-9, but back-to-back scores from Bowlin, including one with less than five seconds left in the quarter, had the Cougars in front 11-9 as the game went to its final 15 minutes.
• Venit tied things up with a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the final period as the scoreboard was set at 11-11. Faith Bartos gave the Eagles their first lead of the game at 12-11 with 7:22 showing on the clock, while Benson and Venit connected to make it a two-goal game. Bowlin made things interesting with a goal at the 4:24 mark but a lengthy, empty possession from the Cougars gave the ball back to the Eagles who scored off a shot from Venit to seal the game, 14-12.

GAME STATS

• Venit led all players with eight points on four goals and four assists. In two games against the Cougars this season, she has totaled seven goals and seven assists.
• Magill and Benson, who each graduated from Bridgewater this morning, contributed four points (3 G,1 A) and three points (2 G, 1 A), respectfully, while Roberts and Cianelli each had two goals.
• Bartos got the last tally for the Eagles, while Hacker tacked on one assist.
• Roberts led the way with seven draw controls, while Grace Pietro had five of her own. 
• Rachael Robinson stopped eight shots in all 60 minutes between the pipes, while Kaylee Joblon also made eight saves in the loss.
• As a team, Bridgewater outshot Averett 32-24, while the ground ball margin was much closer at 19-17 for BC.
• Peasley, who recently became the all-time goal scoring leader in Division III women's lacrosse and who entered the game leading the ODAC in goals, was held to two goals with three turnovers.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater moves on to the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Tournament. The Eagles will head to No. 3 seed, Shenandoah, on Tuesday, May 2.