WESTFIELD, Mass. – Bowdoin senior midfielder Emelia Krakora (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored three first-period goals as the Polar Bears held off Westfield State 14-9 in the Owls second of three games as part of the Spring Fling women's lacrosse tournament from Panama City Beach, Florida.

The Owls suffer their first loss of the season, falling to 3-1 on the season. The Polar Bears improve to 2-2 on the year.

Bowdoin ran out to a 5-0 advantage eight minutes into the game with Krakora opening the game's scoring with the first two goals of the contest.

Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn.) got the Owls in the scoring column with 2:26 left in the quarter on a free position shot, sparking a run of four straight goals spanning into the second quarter where a pair of player-up markers from Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) and a free position goal from Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) trimmed the Bowdoin lead to 5-4 with 10:59 left in the half.

Caroline Higgins (Weston, Mass.) closed the half with a goal for Bowdoin as Westfield held the Polar Bears scoreless for over twenty minutes of game action, trailing 6-4 entering halftime.

Nine seconds into the second half, Bailey cut the deficit to a single goal, then after a pair of Bowdoin goals, Kylie Buchanan (Westfield, Mass.) tallied a free position goal for her first of three goals on the afternoon, with the Polar Bears leading 8-6 with 6:53 left in the third.

After the Buchanan goal, Bowdoin would score six unanswered goals to pull away late, leading 14-6 before three straight Owls goals, two from Buchanan and the other from Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.), concluded the scoring for the game.

Senior goalkeeper Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) got her first start of the season in net, collecting four saves, picking up the loss. Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass.) entered the game in the second half, posting seven saves.

Krakora recorded a game-high four goals with Annie Moore (Falls Church, Va.) adding three scores for Bowdoin.

Westfield State will play one more game from Florida as the Owls take on Kenyon College on Friday at 11:00 AM.