BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The visiting Worcester State University field hockey team posted a 3-0 shutout victory over Bridgewater State University on Thursday evening in a Little East Conference (LEC) matchup at Swenson Field.

The Lancers improve to 13-5 on the season and 8-3 in the Little East, while the Bears fall to 5-11 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Worcester State has won each of the last two meetings of the two teams, and the Lancers are 18-24 versus the Bears since 1983.

Junior midfielder Molly Cutting (Auburn, Mass.) tucked home the rebound of an Emily Floury (Warren, Mass.) shot to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the game. For Cutting, the goal marked her sixth of the season.

Less than five minutes later, junior forward Karalyn Jones (Wilbraham, Mass.) netted her eighth marker of the 2021 campaign as she redirected a shot by Floury into a wide-open cage.

Junior midfielder Carly Duff (Warren, Mass.) converted off a penalty corner early in the second quarter to extend the lead to 3-0. Jones deflected a centering pass by senior midfielder Lexie Panagiotopoulis (Lowell, Mass.) over to Duff near the left post who calmly potted her eighth goal of the season into the open left side of the net.

That would be all the scoring in the game as the Lancers limited the Bears to six shots for the game and just one shot in the second half.

Worcester State finished with a 12-6 shot advantage as well as a 13-3 edge in penalty corner attempts.

Lancers' rookie goalkeeper Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Mass.) turned aside five shots to record her fifth win of the season and first collegiate shutout.

Freshman netminder Emily Ronan (North Billerica, Mass.) made seven saves in the setback for the Bears who also received a defensive save from sophomore defender Erin Power (Byfield, Mass.). Ronan stopped a penalty stroke attempt just 2 ½ minutes into the game. Power's defensive stop marked her team-leading fourth of the season.

The game marked the home finale for the Bears who held Senior Day festivities prior to the start of the contest. BSU seniors Victoria Camara (Westport, Mass.), Aidan Ryan (Uxbridge, Mass.) and Katie Swart (Bridgewater, Mass.) were honored in brief ceremony.

The Bears will wrap up the 2021 season on Friday afternoon as they travel to Castleton University for a four o'clock Little East contest with the Spartans. The Lancers entertain LEC rival UMass Dartmouth in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon also at four.