Field Hockey
Loses To Bridgewater, 3-0
Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information)
BRIDGEWATER,
Mass. –
Senior forward Ashley Panzini (Saugus, MA) tallied a
pair of second half goals to lead the Bridgewater State
College field hockey team to a 3-0 shutout victory over
Little East rival Worcester State this afternoon in
Bridgewater.
With the win, the Bears improve to 6-2 on the season and 3-2
in the Little East Conference. The last time that the BSC
field hockey team opened the season with six wins in their
first eight games was in 1995. Bridgewater also snapped a
four-game losing streak versus the Lancers as the Bears had
been outscored in those four previous contests by a margin
of 20 to 3. Worcester falls to 5-5 overall and 1-4 in
conference play as they have now lost three straight
conference games.
After a scoreless first half, Panzini jumpstarted the Bears
offense in the second as she gave BSC a 1-0 lead midway
through the period. Panzini received a pass from freshman
forward Bethany Bush (Littleton, MA) and rifled a
shot just inside the far left post. Six minutes later Bush
increased the lead to 2-0, off an assist from senior forward
Katie Balboni (Townsend, MA), as her shot from the
right side deflected in off the stick of a Worcester
defender.
Balboni picked up her second helper of the afternoon on
Panzini’s second goal of the game’s in the 62nd
minute of play. Off a scramble in front of the Worcester
goaltender, Balboni took a shot that was deflected by
Panzini into the back of the net.
Senior netminder Nicole Downs (Hanover, MA) picked up
her sixth win of the season as she combined with freshman
Katie Weber (Arlington, MA) on the shutout. Downs, who
made three saves, came out of the game following the Bears
third goal. Weber turned aside the only shot she faced over
the last 8:09.
Worcester goaltender Erin MacDonald (Dedham, MA) made
two saves, both of which came in the second half.
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday night as they travel
to Westfield State College for a key Little East match with
the Owls. Game time is slated for 7 PM. Worcester returns
home to take on UMass-Dartmouth on Tuesday night at 7.
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