NORTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Samantha Hayes (Norwood, Mass.) recorded her third hat trick of the season to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University field hockey team to a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind overtime victory over Wheaton College on Tuesday night at Nordin Field.
Senior forward Julianne Kilduff (Bellingham, Mass.) also scored for the Bears who improved to 9-7 on the season. The host Lyons fall to 5-10 with their seventh straight setback.
Trailing 3-2 with less than two minutes remaining, Hayes potted the game-tying goal with an outstanding individual effort. Hayes stick-handled into the circle from midfield, beat a defender one-one-one and ripped a shot inside the left post with 1:22 remaining.
Hayes completed the comeback with the game-winning tally just 2:01 into overtime. Hayes corralled a pass Kilduff and beat a defender one-on-one near midfield. She stick-handled in on a semi-breakaway and slipped a shot by the Wheaton netminder and inside the left post.
Hayes opened the scoring just 20 seconds into the game as she stick-handled in off the opening whistle and wristed a shot into the back of the net. The Lyons answered with a Hannah LeClair goal off of a JoAnn Bourgoin cross, just 56 seconds later to knot the score at 1-1.
Both teams deposited another marker each before the first period time would run out for a 2-2 halftime score. Kilduff helped the Bears take a lead with an unassisted goal, her eighth of the season, at 11:28. Sophomore forward Sarah Yates (Brownsville, Vt.) leveled the scoreboard again after collecting a cross from sophomore forward Hannah Arkin (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) on the right side of the circle in the 33rd minute.
The Lyons pulled ahead, 3-2, in the 60th minute as junior forward Liz Helmreich (Sanford, Maine) drove a ball from the top of the circle that deflected into the net off the stick of a Bridgewater State defender.
Wheaton finished with a 23-14 shot advantage for the game as well as a 6-3 edge in penalty corner attempts.
BSU junior Jillian Delaney (Foxborough, Mass.) made a season-high 13 saves to record her second win of the season. Junior Morgan Karnes (Durham, Maine) turned aside seven shots in the setback for the Lyons.
Hayes now has a career-high 23 goals and 51 points on the season as she is now third among the Bears' single-season leaders in goals and fourth in scoring. With her three goals, Hayes also increased her career scoring total to 47 goals and 111 points. She tied Bethany Bush (2007-10) for third place on the Bears' all-time goal scoring list.
Both teams wrap up regular season play on Saturday afternoon. The Bears host Little East Conference rival University of Southern Maine at 4:30, while the Lyons travel to Wellesley College for a noontime New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game with the Blue.