BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The visiting Salem State University field hockey team posted a 6-3 Little East Conference victory over Bridgewater State University on Friday afternoon at Swenson Field.
Senior midfielder Casie Curtin (Wrentham, Mass.) and sophomore midfielders Danielle Blackmore (Oxford, Mass.) and Allison Couillard (Tewksbury, Mass.) netted two goals apiece for the Vikings who improve to 10-7 on the season and 6-6 in the Little East. With the win, Salem State secures a spot in next week's Little East Tournament.
The Bears, who were celebrating Senior Day, end the 2019 season with an overall record of 2-15 (2-10 Little East).
The Vikings got on the board 5 ½ minutes into the contest. Junior midfielder Jillian Danton (Arlington, Mass.) rang the crossbar and Curtin knocked home the rebound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Couillard potted a pair of goals in the second quarter to make it a 3-0 game. Couillard scored off a short crossing pass from Danton 2:35 into the period. She found the back of the net again with just eight second left until halftime with Curtin picking up the assist.
Curtin fired backhand shot inside the right post off a feed from freshman midfielder Mikayla Mason (Beverly, Mass.) to extend the Viking advantage 4:29 into the third quarter. Less than three minutes later, Blackmore notched an unassisted tally to make it a 5-0 game.
BSU senior forward Jacquelyn Legendre (Westport, Mass.) scored on a penalty stroke with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter to get the Bears on the board.
Blackmore capped off the scoring for the Vikings early in the fourth period with another unassisted tally.
A long-range wrist shot from Legendre found the top-left corner of the cage to cut the deficit to 6-2 with just under seven minute left to play. Junior defender Meghan Welch (Hubbardston, Mass.) recorded her first career assist on Legendre's fourth goal of the 2019 campaign.
Less than four minutes later, junior forward Olivia Ahlman (Halifax, Mass.) tucked home her team-leading sixth goal of the season off a short feed from sophomore forward Katie Swart (Bridgewater, Mass.) to round out the scoring.
Salem State finished with a 32-15 shot advantage for the game as well as a 15-4 edge in penalty corner attempts.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelli McCarthy (Foxborough, Mass.) turned aside six shots to pick up her tenth win of the season between the pipes for the Vikings. Senior defender Katherine Crane (Arlington, Mass.) also recorded a defensive save for the visitors.
Bridgewater State senior netminder Jillian Delaney (Foxborough, Mass.) made 17 saves to increase her season total to 172. It marks the highest single-season save total for the Bears since Lauren Mazzola stopped a school-record 229 shots in 2004.
BSU sophomore defender Annabelle Boudreau (Halifax, Mass.) notched her team-leading third defensive save.
Prior to the game, the Bears honored seniors Legendre, Delaney and Kim Kowalick (Groveland, Mass.).