By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the second time in program history, Bridgewater State University is the No. 1 seed in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament.

The Bears earned that status by winning the regular-season championship with a 7-0-0 record.

BSU (10-5-1 overall) will host a semifinal-round game on Friday at 7 p.m. against fifth-seeded Fitchburg State University. The Falcons (4-10-4) advanced with a 3-1 win over Salem State University on Tuesday.

The only other time the Bears were the top seed was in 2006, the last year BSU won the MASCAC outright. The Bears shared the title in 2008 with Westfield State and in both 2011 and 2017 with Westfield State and Worcester State but were not the No. 1 seed due to a tiebreaker.

"It's wonderful,'' said BSU coach Yasmina Carvalho of being the top seed. "It's been very tiring. I've coached here nine years and was a player for four years and we would consistently travel to Worcester or Westfield for a semifinal or final game. It's really nice to know we'll be home on our field.''

BSU defeated Fitchburg State, 2-0, in their regular-season meeting on Sept. 22. The winner advances to Sunday's championship game with a bid in the NCAA Division 3 tourney on the line.

The Bears went 6-1-1 in October, the lone loss coming to Tufts University. BSU enters the tourney with four wins and a tie in the last five games to secure the No. 1 seed with a perfect MASCAC mark.

"It's pretty tough to consistently play every week and get a good result no matter who you're playing,'' said Carvalho of going undefeated in the conference. "You just never know on any given day.

"For our team to show up every Saturday and be able to pull off the win says a lot about us. It is a lot of kudos to our team chemistry and how they have each other's back and want to play for each other.''

The Bears were the No. 2 seed a year ago and lost to third-seeded Fitchburg State, 2-1, in the semifinal round at home.

Twenty-one players returned from that team, giving Bridgewater State plenty of experience.

"My initial thought of this team was we were definitely a championship caliber team, but I also knew we were still on the younger side,'' said Carvalho. "I realized our team chemistry would take us through a lot of our games, but I also knew towards the end of the season we would progress skill-wise and that team chemistry would start connecting on the field when it comes to tactics and technicality.

"We were just trying to get our footing, but it was good timing when we came together at the end of the season.''

Senior Sydney Dewhurst (East Bridgewater, Mass.) is leading the BSU offense with nine goals and six assists for 24 points, ranking her third in each category in the MASCAC. She is also first in game-winning goals with four.

"She's definitely come through for us in the clutch in a lot of games,'' said Carvalho of the player who began her career at Curry College. "Every team wants someone you can kind of look to when the game is on the line or when the rest of the team isn't performing up to the level it should be.

"You have that one player who can consistently bail you out and help you out and get the attention from other teams that opens up space for other talented players on the field to take advantage. That's exactly what's happening towards the end of the season. A lot of teams are so focused on Sydney and stopping her, they're forgetting about a lot of the other talented players that we have on the field that are putting the ball in the back of the net.''

Sophomore Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass.) has five goals and two assists for 12 points while senior Audra McDuffie (Millbury, Mass.) has three goals and one assist.

"Liv is just fast and fierce and has just so much talent when it comes to being coachable,'' said Carvalho of Robarge. "You give her one thing to do in practice and she's going to do it the next game. She has the ability to get in behind defenders and create that chaoticness in the box because of her speed is great.''

Other key players on offense are sophomores Jenna Sweeney (Wilmington, Mass.) and Abigal Shea (Somerset, Mass.), and junior Mia Chrisafideis (Marlborough, Mass.).

Sophomore goalkeeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I.) has a 1.11 goals against average after starting 16 games as a freshman.

"She's just thriving when it comes to leadership and her confidence,'' said Carvalho. "It's not even a tactical or technical thing that's made her better. It's more her mindset and how she sees herself on the team. She's grown into a leader on the team and has confidence in the net.''

The defense suffered a loss before the season when senior Megan Keller (Northborough, Mass.) suffered a year-ending knee injury.

But Dewhurst, senior Makenna Lessard (East Bridgewater, Mass.), junior Bailey Brown (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore Lauren Sellmayer (Easton, Mass.) have played key roles in front of Levesque.

"Our whole backline has played well,'' said Carvalho. "We've been trying to find a solid backline for a couple years now. Losing Megan Keller was a tough one because we thought we were set back there. We put Lessard at center back and it's been working perfectly ever since.''

BSU is bidding for its first trip to the NCAAs since 2013 and needs two wins at home as the No. 1 seed to make it happen.

"We've been preparing for this moment for a couple of years now,'' said Carvalho. "I think in their mind, they deserve this moment and have worked hard for it. Now it's just a matter of settling in and understanding we need to treat the next game like any other game. I think they're handling it really well.''