BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior forward Bethany Bush (Littleton, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Bridgewater State University field hockey team to a key Little East Conference victory over Plymouth State University on Senior Day at Swenson Field in Bridgewater.
The win gives Bridgewater (9-7, 8-3 LEC) the second seed in next week's Little East Tournament. The Bears will host seventh seeded Western Connecticut State University on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM in the tournament's opening round. Plymouth State (11-6, 8-3 LEC) is the three seed and will entertain number six Southern Maine on Tuesday.
Bush assisted on the opening tally of the night as junior midfielder Breanna Clement (Pittsfield, Mass.) scored in the 20th minute to give BSU the early lead. Plymouth State sophomore forward Olivia Colborn (Lancaster, N.H.) banged home a one-timer off a feed from junior midfielder Lauren Bergeron (New Hampton, N.H.) less than eight minutes later to knot the game at 1-1.
With two minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the opening half, Bush notched her team-leading 19th goal of the season off a rebound of a Shelby Farland (Fiskdale, Mass.) shot to put the Bears up to stay.
Farland would notch a big insurance goal on a penalty stroke in the 63rd minute to put the game out of reach. Bush drew the foul that gave Farland the stroke attempt.
With the goal and assist, Bush increased her season-long point scoring streak to 15 games. Along with her career-high 19 goals, Bush also leads the team with seven assists as well as a career-high 45 points.
Senior goaltender Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) was terrific between the pipes for Bridgewater as she turned aside 11 shots. Sophomore Hilary Lemelin (Milan, N.H.) made five saves in goal for the Panthers who outshot the Bears by a margin of 17-12 and also held a 23-7 advantage in penalty corners. Freshman half defender Aisha Rai Thompson (Berlin, N.H.) registered a first half defensive save for Plymouth.
Prior to the game, the Bears honored seniors Bush, Liz Correia (Somerset, Mass.), Justine Fox (Harwich, Mass.), Nicole Henrique (Swansea, Mass.) and Weber.