Bush Nets Hat Trick as Field Hockey Downs Westfield, 6-2

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior forward Bethany Bush (Littleton, Mass.) recorded her second hat trick of the season to lead the Bridgewater State University field hockey team to a 6-2 victory over Little East Conference foe Westfield State University on Monday night at Swenson Field.

The host Bears have now won seven straight games as they improve to 8-4 on the season and 7-1 in the Little East.  Westfield falls to 5-9 overall and 2-6 in conference play.

Bridgewater spotted the visiting Owls a 1-0 lead on the strength of junior forward Jessi Gould's (Canton, Mass.) team-leading 15th marker of the season.  The Bears, however, would dominate play the rest of the way outshooting Westfield by a margin of 29-12.

After Gould scored at the 6:01 mark, Bush responded with her first goal of the night just 34 seconds later.  Positioning herself in front of the net, Bush accepted a feed from sophomore midfielder Shelby Farland (Fiskdale, Mass.) and buried a shot into the back of the net.

Junior midfielder Breanna Clement (Pittsfield, Maine) gave Bridgewater the lead for good in the 17th minute of play as she scored from the right side off a long pass forward from sophomore midfielder Megan Cullinane (Lunenburg, Mass.).  Senior defender Liz Correia (Somerset, Mass.) rounded out the first half scoring with an unassisted tally in the 24th minute as her shot deflected off the post and in.

Bush quickly upped the Bears' advantage to 4-1 just 1:15 into the second half as she deflected home a shot by senior forward Nicole Henrique (Swansea, Mass.).  Exactly 11 minutes later, Bush completed the hat trick with her team-leading 14th goal of the season off a feed from Cullinane.

Westfield junior defender Nicole Gagnon (Andover, Mass.) cut the Owls' deficit to 5-2 as she scored on a penalty stoke in the 51st minute. 

Bridgewater State sophomore defender Julie Cardoza (North Easton, Mass.) rounded out the scoring with her first career goal on a shot from ten yards out off a penalty corner in the 67th minute with Clement and Bush each getting an assist.

With her three-goal, one-assist performance, Bush extended her season-long point scoring streak to an impressive 11 games.  She also set career-highs in goals (14) and points (34), and now has 99 points (39 goals, 21 assists) in her career at BSU.

BSU senior netminder Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) picked up her eighth win of the season between the pipes for the Bears as she turned aside seven shots.  Weber's counterpart, junior Amanda McCarthy (Franklin, Mass.), was very busy in goal for the Owls as she made 14 saves.

Bridgewater travels to Framingham State University on Wednesday afternoon (4:00) for a Little East Conference match with the Rams.  Westfield hosts conference foe Fitchburg State University on Wednesday at seven o'clock.