BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior midfielder Athena Comeau (Rutland, Mass.) tallied two goals and an assist, and senior forward Mackenzie Labrie (Canaan, N.H.) added a pair of goals to lead the visiting Plymouth State University field hockey team to a season-opening 5-0 shutout victory over Bridgewater State University on Saturday afternoon at Mazzaferro Field. The game marked the 2023 opener for both teams.

With the win, Plymouth now holds a 29-9-1 advantage in the all-time series including a 14-7 mark on the road.

The Panthers reeled off three goals in a span of less than two minutes in the first quarter to jump out to the early lead. Senior Taylor Healy (Campton, N.H.) got the visitors on the board as she scored off the rebound of a Comeau shot in the fourth minute. Fifty-six seconds later, Comeau converted off a feed from graduate midfielder Alessia Salzillo (Saugus, Mass.) to make it a 2-0 game. Comeau capped off the three-goal outburst exactly a minute later as she stickhandled past two defenders and beat the keep with a shot inside the right post.

That would be all the scoring in the first half as Plymouth took the 3-0 lead into the break.

After a scoreless third period, the Panthers put the game out of reach with a pair of goals just 65 seconds apart in the fourth quarter. Labrie redirected an elevated crossing pass from Comeau into the left side of the net with 11:15 remaining in the contest. Labrie then scored off the rebound of her own shot to make it a 5-0 game.

Plymouth held a 17-9 shot advantage as well as a 13-7 edge in penalty corner attempts.

PSU senior goalkeeper Kayla Antonucci (Windham, N.H.) turned aside five shot to record the shutout. Freshman netminder Kailey Hutchinson (Attleboro, Mass.) made five saves in her collegiate debut for Bridgewater State.

Both teams are back in action next Wednesday. The Bears travel to Dean College for a 3:30 game with the Bulldogs, while the Panthers entertain the Fighting Scots of Gordon College at four o'clock.