GORHAM, Maine -- Freshman Bethany Bougie (Sanford, Maine) scored a goal and an assist to help the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 4-2 win over the Bridgewater State College Bears in a Little East Conference field hockey game Saturday afternoon at Paula Hodgdon Field on the Gorham campus.
Four different USM players tallied goals as the Huskies snapped a four-game losing skid with the win to improve to 8-9 overall and 5-5 in the Little East. The loss is the second in a row for the Bears who drop to 6-9 overall and 5-5 in conference action.
USM took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break following a goal from freshman forward Heidi Swett (Turner, Maine/Leavitt Area) in the 19th minute. Swett swatted in her second goal of the season off of an assist from Bougie.
Bridgewater State quickly tied the score in the second half netting the equalizer just 51 seconds after the starting whistle. Sophomore midfielder Jenny Jackson (Somerset, Mass.) finished neatly finished an assist from senior midfielder Stacey Takis (Georgetown, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) in the 36th minute to pull the Bears even with USM.
Scoring took a break for both teams, before USM scored a trio of unanswered goals to take control of the game. Freshman Whitney MacDaniel (Livermore, Maine/Livermore Falls) started the scoring rally in the 50th minute powering her way to her third goal of the season through traffic after an assist from freshman forward Brianna Beisaw (Jay, Maine). Beisaw's assist was her team-leading sixth of the season.
The Huskies went ahead 3-1 in the 59th minute when senior forward Alyssa Kraus (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) redirected a pass from freshman back Joanna Gaube (Woodstock, Conn./Pomfret School) on a corner play. Bougie completed the Huskies' scoring in the game in the 61st minute with a powerful long-range shot from the top of the circle, notching her third goal of the season.
Bridgewater State pushed offensively in the final nine minutes of the game rattling off four of its 11 shots and earning three of its 14 penalty corners. Bears' sophomore Bethany Bush (Littleton, Mass.) found the back of the net in the 64th minute after collecting a rebound off of her initial shot, but the Huskies were able to hold off the Bears to earn the 4-2 victory.
Southern Maine junior goalkeeper Allison Hill (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) made eight saves in the win. Bridgewater State sophomore goalkeeper Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) turned away five shots in the loss.
Southern Maine hosts New England College on Tuesday (3:00 p.m.) in non-conference action. Bridgewater State faces non-conference opponent University of New England on the road on Wednesday (4:00 p.m.).