BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University field hockey team edged visiting Eastern Connecticut State University, 6-4, in a Little East Conference (LEC) matchup on Saturday afternoon at Swenson Field.
The host Bears improve to 9-4 on the season and 6-4 in the Little East, while the Warriors fall to 6-7 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
Five different players scored for Bridgewater State led by two goals from senior forward Brittany Cullinane (Lunenburg, Mass.).
Cullinane, junior midfielder Tori O'Dea (South Dennis, Mass.), senior forward Hayley Grimes (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman forward Jacquelyn Legendre (Westport, Mass.) potted the first four goals of the contest as the Bears jumped out to what seemed to be a comfortable 4-0 first half lead.
Sophomore midfielder Erin Sheehan (North Branford, Conn.) found the back of the net for the Warriors, her first marker of the season, to close out the first half scoring. Eastern carried the momentum in the second half as back-to-back strikes from senior midfielder Paige Schneider (East Lyme, Mass.) and Sheehan cut the deficit to 4-3 with a little over 19 minutes remaining in the game.
Less than three minutes later, Cullinane buried her second goal of the game and team-leading 19th of the season to make it a two-goal cushion.
Senior forward Brianna Passero (Trumbull, Conn.) answered for the warriors in the 62nd minute as she redirected a shot inside the left post to make it a 5-4 game. The goal marked Passero's team-leading seventh of the 2016 campaign.
Just 28 second later, however, sophomore forward Alexandra Zoebisch (Plymouth, Mass.) extended the BSU advantage to 6-4 as she converted a nice thru-ball from sophomore forward Maggie McDonald (East Dennis, Mass.). That would be all the scoring for the game as the Bears held on for the victory.
Sophomore netminder Allison Chappell (Raynham, Mass.) made three saves to record her ninth win of the season. Senior Samantha Scavo (Redding, Conn.) turned aside six shots in the setback for the Warriors. Eastern also received a defensive save from junior defender Katy Jankura (Guilford, Conn.).
O'Dea finished with a game-high three points on the afternoon as she also assisted on two of the first three goals.
Prior to the start of the game, the Bears honored seniors Cullinane, Grimes, Melissa Butler (Watertown, Mass.) and Hannah Ciavarra (Holliston, Mass.). The four seniors were playing in their final regular season home game.
In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Wellesley College next Thursday afternoon for a four o'clock non-conference affair with the Blue. The Warriors head to Connecticut College on Wednesday night to take on the Camels at 6:30.
Notes: With her two goals, Cullinane increased her career total to 36 as she moved into fourth place on the Bears' all-time goal scoring list. Culliane also moved into fifth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list with 81 points.