BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Bridgewater State College advanced to the semifinal round of the 2007 Little East Conference Field Hockey Tournament as the fourth seeded Bears knocked off fifth seeded Framingham State, 3-2, this afternoon in Bridgewater. With the win, Bridgewater improves to 13-5 on the season as they avenged a 2-1 regular season loss at the hands of the Rams earlier this month. The last time a BSC field hockey team posted 13 wins was 20 years ago when the ‘87 squad finished 13-4-1. Framingham wraps up the 2007 season with an overall mark of 9-8.
BSC opened the scoring in the first half on an unassisted tally by senior forward Ashley Panzini (Saugus,MA) in the 22nd minute. Panzini's 11th goal of the season would be the only marker in the opening stanza as the Bears took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Fellow senior Katie Balboni (Townsend, MA) upped the lead to 2-0 less than five minutes into the second half as she potted her eighth goal of the season off an assist from junior midfielder Kelly Duchemin (Mashpee, MA).
Framingham State senior midfielder Erin Johnson (Uxbridge, MA) got the Rams on the board in the 51st minute as she converted off a penalty corner. Johnson deflected home a long shot attempt off the stick of freshman midfielder Andrea DiTerlizzi (Shrewsbury, MA). Junior midfielder Stacey Takis (Georgetown, MA) picked an opportune time to notch her first goal of the season in the 60th to give the Bears a two-goal cushion once again. Takis' goal would prove to be the difference as Framingham came right back on a goal from freshman forward Kristen Sacco (Mendon, MA) to cut the deficit to 3-2 with just under three minutes remaining.
BSC took advantage of their limited scoring opportunities as the Bears took only fours shots in the game but converted on three of them. Framingham held a 9-4 advantage in shots as well as a 7-5 edge in penalty corners. Senior netminder Nicole Downs (Hanover, MA) turned aside 5 shots to earn her 13th win of the season between the pipes for the Bears. Sophomore Steph Bourgeois (Waltham, MA) made 1 save in goal for the Rams.
Bridgewater will head to Keene, New Hampshire to take on top-seeded Keene State College in the tournament semifinals on Thursday at 6 PM. Keene easily disposed of eighth seeded Worcester State, 7-0, in their first round match-up.