Bush, Cullinane Lead Field Hockey to 2-1 Win over Eastern

MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The Bridgewater State University field hockey team erased an early one-goal deficit as the Bears posted their first win of the season, a 2-1 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Megan Cullinane (Lunenburg, Mass.) notched the game-winner as she came off the bench to score her first goal of the season. The win is the third in as many years for Bridgewater over Eastern. Bridgewater was playing its fourth straight road match.

After senior forward Bethany Bush (Littleton, Mass.) tied the match in the 12th minute, the teams played scorelessly for more than 55 minutes before Bush set up Cullinane with what proved to be the game-winning goal with less than three minutes left. The play originated from deep in the Bridgewater end on a free hit as senior forward Nicole Henrique (Swansea, MA) found Bush near midfield. Bush carried until sending a pass ahead to an unmarked Cullinane, who beat Eastern senior goalie Tia Mucciarone (Franklin, Mass.) from in close to the goalie's left side.

Bridgewater had the better of play after the opening ten minutes, when the Warriors jumped to a quick lead on senior forward Ashley Del Vecchio's (Fairfield, Conn.) first goal of the season in the third minute of play. Junior forward Ali Chapman (Watertown, Conn.) fired a shot toward the cage from inside the circle, where Del Vecchio re-directed the ball past Bridgewater senior goalie Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) from the right post.

Bridgewater applied constant pressure in the second half, accumulating eight of the game's ten second-half penalty corners. Bush recorded six of her team's 18 shots, forcing Mucciarone to make three saves on her offensive bids.

Tuesday, Eastern (2-3, 0-2 LEC) hosts Connecticut College in a non-conference match at 4 p.m. while Bridgewater (1-3, 1-1 LEC) plays its fifth straight road game against Babson College at 6 p.m.