Field Hockey Drops 4-1 Decision to Plymouth State in Regular Season Finale

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Freshman Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, Mass.) scored two goals and assisted on another Saturday afternoon at Arold Field as the Plymouth State University field hockey team defeated Bridgewater State University, 4-1, in the Little East Conference regular season finale for both schools.

PSU wraps up the regular season with an 11-5 overall record, while BSU winds up with a 14-4 mark.  Both teams complete the LEC campaign with 9-2 marks, and end up in a three-way tie with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for second place in the LEC behind regular season champion Keene State College (11-0).  KSC will be the top seed in next week's Little East Tournament, while Bridgewater is seeded second after winning a coin flip.  Plymouth is seeded third followed by UMass Dartmouth as the number four seed.

The Panthers out-shot the visiting Bears by a 19-2 count, and had 12 penalty corners to one for BSU.  Despite the lopsided statistics, PSU needed a pair of second half goals to solidify the victory. Senior goalie Kacie Sturgeon (Dartmouth, Mass.) kept the Bears in the game, finishing with 13 saves.

Wilder put the Panthers on the board a little more than two minutes into the game.  Junior Nikki Garvey (Canaan, N.H.) took a shot that was saved by BSU senior defender Olivia Galvin (Mashpee, Mass.), but Wilder knocked in rebound for her 13th goal of the season. Wilder then set up senior Jackie Morin (Scarborough, Maine) from the right side midway through the first half as Morin connected on her 15th goal of the season.

The Bears got on the scoreboard with seven minutes to play in the opening half.  Sophomore Jennifer Arnold (West Yarmouth, Mass.) sent a pass down low to seniorDemi Miskiv (Centerville, Mass.), who lifted the ball over the keeper for her 11th goal of the season, and the score stood at 2-1 at the intermission.

Wilder struck again 11 minutes into the second half as her shot from the middle found its way through traffic and into the bottom left side of the game to push the Panther lead to 3-1. Junior Tayla Corrado (Saugus, Mass.) rounded out the scoring with 2:50 to play with her second of the season.

Senior goalie Hilary Lemelin (Milan, N.H.) needed to make just one save to earn the win in the Panther goal.