By Jim Fenton

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University field hockey team has advanced to the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The fifth-seeded Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period on the way to a 4-1 win over fourth-seeded Framingham State University in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night at Maple Street Field.

Freshman Samantha Souza (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored a pair of goals in the win while junior Lexi James (Ipswich, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist.

Freshman Kallie Rose (Dartmouth, Mass.) added a goal for the Bears who also received a pair of assists from junior Raegen Perry (Nantucket, Mass.).

BSU (9-10) will play at top-seeded Fitchburg State University (10-8) on Thursday at 6 p.m. with a spot in the championship game on the line.

The Bears had not won a postseason game since Oct. 29, 2016 when they won over Worcester State University, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round of the Little East Conference tourney.

BSU had lost six straight games to Framingham State (8-11), including a pair of one-goal decisions this season and a 3-2 loss in the MASCAC tourney a year ago.

Souza gave the Bears a 1-0 lead at 4:41 when she deflected the ball in after it had been sent to the far post by Perry.

James made it 2-0 in the second period, scoring her eighth goal at 16:31.

Perry stickhandled into the circle from the right side and slipped a centering pass to the front of the net and onto to the stick of James, who buried a shot inside the right post.

BSU took a 3-0 lead at 23:18 as Rose scored her third goal.

Sophomore Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.) sent a shot from just inside the circle towards the net. Rose deflected the shot (which was saved by the Framingham keeper), corralled the rebound and slipped a shot into the right side of the cage.

Framingham State got on the scoreboard before the end of the half with senior Kaylee Beck (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scoring her sixth goal from graduate student Angelina Serra (Chelmsford, Mass.) at 28:31.

The Bears added a goal off a penalty corner at the start of the final period when Souza registered her 12th goal, assisted by James at 45:55.

A shot by Madison Ellis (Attleboro, Mass.) by just outside the circle was deflected by James as the ball went right to Souza, who scored with the goalkeeper out of position.

Souza is now second in the MASCAC in goals.

BSU goalkeeper Brianna Gagnon (Tewksbury, Mass.) made four saves, all in the second half, to record the win.

Framingham State sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Tello (Nashua, N.H.) had two saves in the first half while freshman Rowan Whittaker (Rehoboth, Mass.) had no saves in the second half.

BSU lost a pair of games to Fitchburg State this season, 5-0, on Oct. 12 and 4-2 last weekend.

The other semifinal-round matchup pits second-seeded Westfield State hosting third-seeded Worcester State.