MEDFORD, Mass. -- Five different players scored as the nationally ranked Tufts University women's soccer team cruised to a 6-0 shutout victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Wednesday evening at Bello Field.
The Jumbos improve to 8-2-1 on the season, while the Bears fall to 8-3-2. Tufts is ranked 20th in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division III Poll.
Freshman defender Lena Sugrue (Mill Valley, Calif.) opened the scoring just 3:04 into the game. Sugrue one-timed a corner kick from sophomore defender Caroline O'Neill (Pleasantville, N.Y.) into the left side of the cage for her third goal of the season.
Junior midfielder Casey Lam (Closter, N.J.) extended the lead to 2-0 in the 17th minute with her third marker of the 2022 campaign. Lam beat a defender one-on-one coming down the right side and fired a shot inside the left post from ten yards out.
Less than four minutes later, senior midfielder Maddie Pero (Corte Madera, Calif.) collected a pass from Lam just outside the 18, dribbled by a defender and slipped a shot inside the right post to make it a 3-0 game. Pero's goal marked her third of the season.
Junior forward Erin Duncan (Rutland, Mass.) completed the first half scoring in the 29th minute to extend the Tufts lead to 4-0. Freshman midfielder Caroline Kelly (Southborough, Mass.) collected a loose ball inside the six and chipped a pass over to Duncan who one-time a shot into the back of the net for her team-leading sixth goal of the year.
The Jumbos capitalized on an O'Neill corner kick in the 53rd minute to push the advantage to 5-0. Junior midfielder Thalia Greenberg's (Mill Valley, Calif.) shot from outside the six managed to find its way through multiple defenders and past a screened BSU netminder.
Greenberg capped of the scoring in the 64th minute with her second goal of the game and of the season as she tucked a shot just under the cross bar from 20 yards out off a short back pass from Lam.
Tufts held a 23-4 shot advantage for the game as well as a 10-1 edge in corner kick attempts.
Lam finished with a goal and two assists, while O'Neill dished out a pair of assists.
Senior goalkeeper Kaelin Logue (Scituate, Mass.) and freshman netminder Kianna Hill (Newton, Mass.) combined on the shutout for the Jumbos. Logue got the start and made four saves in 45 minutes of action to pick up her fifth win of the season. Hill played the second half and did not face a shot.
BSU freshman keeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R,I.) made nine saves in the setback for Bridgewater State. Senior forward Michelle Belcher (Norton, Mass.) led the Bears with two shots on goal, both in the first half.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday. The Bears travel to Westfield State University for a two o'clock MASCAC game with the Owls, while the Jumbos head to NESCAC foe Bates College take on the Bobcats at noon.