BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior midfielder Samantha Hayes (Norwood, Mass.) tallied two goals and an assist to lead the Bridgewater State University field hockey team to a 5-2 Little East Conference (LEC) victory over visiting UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday night at Swenson Field.
The Bears improve to 8-7 on the season and 6-5 in the Little East, while the Corsairs fall to 2-13 overall and 1-8 in conference play.
Hayes scored off the rebound of her own shot to open the scoring just 3:55 into the contest. Hayes collected a pass from sophomore forward Emma Daly (Foxborough, Mass.), stick-handled by two defenders and ripped a shot from the right side that was turned aside by UMD sophomore keeper Katelyn Banalewicz (Fall River, Mass.). Hayes collected the rebound and knocked it into the open net.
Hayes made it a 2-0 game in the 18th minute with her team-leading 20th goal of the season as she backhanded a shot into the top right corner of the cage from seven yards out.
BSU freshman forward Victoria Camara (Westport, Mass.) one-timed a short pass from Daly to make it a 3-0 game with 2:27 left to play in the opening stanza.
Sophomore forward Brittany Perry (North Dighton, Mass.) buried a goal line crossing passing from junior midfielder Elliana Stormwind (Littleton, Mass.) to get the Corsairs on the board 2:51 into the second half.
The Bears reclaimed the three-goal advantage in the 49th minute on a scoring strike by sophomore forward Olivia Ahlman (Halifax, Mass.). Hayes assisted on the marker as she stick-handled into the circle and slipped a pass to Ahlman stationed near the right post. Ahlman tapped it into the right side of the net for her fifth goal of the season.
Senior forward Julianne Kilduff (Bellingham, Mass.) scored off the rebound of a Daly shot in the 62nd minute to give the Bears a 5-1 lead. The goal marked Kilduff's career-best seventh of the 2018 campaign.
UMD senior forward Mary Brown (Leicester, Mass.) capped of the scoring with her team-leading sixth goal of the season off an assist from Perry with 4:11 left to play to account for the final score of 5-2.
Bridgewater State finished with a 25-10 shot advantage while penalty corner attempts were even at seven apiece.
BSU senior goalkeeper Allison Chappell (Raynham, Mass.) turned aside three shots to record her seventh win of the season and 24th of her career. Junior Jillian Delaney (Foxborough, Mass.) played the final 14:23 and made one save.
Banalewicz and senior Allison Burke (Franklin, Mass.) split the game in goal for the Corsairs. Banalewicz recorded three saves, while Burke turned aside eight shots.
The Bears are off until next Wednesday night (Oct. 23) when they travel to Wheaton College for a seven o'clock non-conference game with the Lyons. The Corsairs host Little East foe Worcester State University on Saturday morning at 11.
Notes: Hayes' 20 goals and 45 points this season rank fifth among the Bears' singles-season leaders....Hayes increased her career totals to 44 goals and 17 assists for 105 points.