FITCHBURG, Mass. - Sophomore attack Katie DeMaio scored seven goals and dished out two assists to help power Bridgewater State College to a 22-3 victory over host Fitchburg State College in NEWLA action Saturday afternoon at Elliot Field.
With the win, the Bears improved to 10-3 overall and capped off the conference regular season schedule with a perfect 7-0 NEWLA mark. BSC will be the top seed in the NEWLA tournament which gets underway on Wednesday, April 30th. Fitchburg drops to 5-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Bridgewater State set a pair of team single-season records in the win over the Falcons. BSC's 22 goals gives them 256 on the season as the Bears eclipsed the team mark of 243 goals set in 1999. Bridgewater also tallied 18 assists in the game which ups their season total to a school-record 135. The old mark of 123 assists was set back in 2003.
Bridgewater enjoyed a 13-0 cushion at intermission thanks to DeMaio's scoring outburst. She assisted on the first goal of the game, then recorded a natural hat trick that spanned 2:04 of the first half that gave the visitors a 4-0 advantage. DeMaio went on to net five goals and add two assists in the opening half.
The Bears also notched the first six goals of the second half and led 19-0 before Fitchburg got on the board on a goal by Ashley Massa. BSC held a 31-9 advantage in shots as well as a 17-8 edge in draw controls.
Jenny Jones finished with four goals, while Courtney Lennon (2 goals, 4 assists), Patricia Maloney (goal, 4 assists), Alison Gugliotta (goal, 3 assists), Bethany Bush (2 goals) and Kelly Downs (2 goals) also paced the Bears' attack.
Sophomore midfielder Shannon Manning recorded three assists to increase her season total to 39. Manning is nine assists shy of breaking Paula Habel's BSC single-season mark of 47 assists.
BSC sophomore goaltender Meghan Griffin earned her fifth win of the season as she turned aside two shots and did not allow a goal in 30 minutes of work.
Bridgewater returns to the playing field on Tuesday afternoon as the Bears travel to Eastern Connecticut State University for a 3:30 game with the Warriors.