WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior Megan Rosborough (Uxbridge, MA) broke a 1-1 tie with four minutes left to help lift Worcester State, 2-1, over Bridgewater State in Little East Conference field hockey action on Saturday afternoon at Coughlin Stadium.
With the win the Lancers improve their record to 7-3 and 3-1 in conference play while the Bears fall to 3-6 and 2-2 in the LEC.
Both BSC and WSC had good opportunities to score in the first half, but both teams played outstanding defense and neither could capitalize on good field position. Lancer keeper Erin MacDonald (Dedham, MA) saved seven of the ten shots that she faced in the cage while the visitors defense held the Blue and Gold to nine shots without a goal for the first 30 minutes of play.
Worcester State sophomore Karla Rotondi (Tewksbury, MA) finally found the opposing net with 31 seconds left in the first stanza when she hit the ball in off of a deflection from BSC goalie Katie Weber's (Arlington, MA) pads. Rotondi's goal was her first of the season.
Sophomore Bethany Bush (Littleton, MA) knotted the game up at 52:12 when the Bears took advantage of a penalty corner. Junior Kelly Downs (Hanover, MA) hit a stroke that MacDonald saved in front of the net, but Bush was right there to catch the ball and scoop it right into the net.
Play was back and forth for the next 13 minutes of play until Rotondi found Rosborough for the go-ahead marker at 66:03.
Bridgewater finished the game with a 21-16 edge in shots which included an 11-6 advantage in the second half. Worcester finished the afternoon leading in penalty corners, 11-4.
MacDonald was sensational as she stopped 12 of the 13 shots she faced while Weber notched four saves between the pipes.
The Lancers improve to 2-0 against MASCAC opponents while the Bears even out their record at 1-1.
Both teams will play Little East opponents on Tuesday at 4 PM. Worcester State will travel to UMass Dartmouth while Bridgewater State will entertain Westfield State.