SALEM, Mass. – Samantha Hayes (Norwood, Mass.) notched her second straight hat trick to lead the Bears of Bridgewater State University to a 5-3 Little East Conference victory over Salem State University at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears improve to 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in the Little East with their fourth straight win, while the Vikings fall to 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the conference play.
Hayes scored back-to-back goals within the first 11 minutes of the game, giving Bridgewater State an early 2-0 lead.
In the 13th minute, Erin Davies (Arlington, Mass.) cut the deficit in half, but three minutes later, Hayes notched the hat trick as the Bears took a two-goal advantage into halftime.
Alexandra Zoebisch (Plymouth, Mass.) made it 4-1 in favor of Bridgewater State early in the second half before Hayes assisted Olivia Ahlman (Halifax, Mass.) for a 5-1 Bears' lead in the 49th minute.
Salem State made a final push, scoring two goals late as Courtney Smith (Peabody, Mass.) and Davies, who found the back of the net for a second time, made the score 5-3.
Allison Chappell (Raynham, Mass.) earned the win making six saves while Kaitlyn O'Shea (Ledgewood, N.J.) and Kelli McCarthy (Foxborough, Mass.) split time in net, combining for nine saves.
Bridgewater State held a 17-10 advantage in shots.
Notes: Hayes, who has three career hat tricks, now has 36 goals and 16 assists for 88 points in 63 career games at Bridgewater State. She moved into fourth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list, and fifth place on the Bears' all-time goal scoring list.