Vizakis, Miskiv Lead Field Hockey to 5-2 Little East Tournament Win over Westfield

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior forward Carissa Vizakis (Bellingham, Mass.) and Demi Miskiv (Centerville, Mass.) each netted a pair of goals as the Bridgewater State University field hockey team posted a 5-2 victory over visiting Westfield State University in the opening round of the 2013 Little East Conference Tournament on Tuesday night at Swenson Field.

With the win, the second-seeded Bears (15-4) advance to the semifinal round as they will host third-seeded Plymouth State University on Thursday evening at seven.  Plymouth notched a 4-2 win over sixth-seeded Salem State University in their opening round game earlier today.   Westfield concludes the 2013 season with an overall record of 7-11.

Vizakis finished with two goals and an assist on the evening as she now has a career high 41 points on 18 goals and five assists on the year.  The 18 goals and 41 points both rank fifth all-time in the Bears single-season record book.

With her two goals, Miskiv reached the 100-point milestone as she now has 43 goals and 17 assists for 103 points in four collegiate seasons.  Miskiv notched 11 goals and five assists for 27 points in two seasons at Framingham State before transferring to BSU prior to the 2012 season.  She has amassed 32 goals and 12 assists for 76 points in 41 games for the Bears.

The Bears scored early on in the half when Vizakis found the back of the goal after redirecting a long shot by sophomore midfielder Brittney Field (Hubbardston, Mass.) in the sixth minute.  The Owls fought back to tie it at 1-1 in the tenth minute with a player-advantage goal.  Senior forward Sarah Pliszka (Enfield, Conn.) slipped a pass to freshman forward Holly Brouillette (Burlington, Mass.) from across the field and Brouillette buried a shot into the wide-open left side of the net.  The Bears, however, responded just over a minute later to take a 2-1 lead when Vizakis scored her second goal of the night off of a deflected shot from junior midfielder Jaclyn Holahan (South Yarmouth, Mass.).

The Bears scored three straight goals in the second half to take control of the game with Miskiv netting a pair of unassisted tallies.  Sophomore forward Kelsey Kiely (Mansfield, Mass.) capped off the scoring spree with her first marker of the season off an assist from Vizakis in the 58th minute.

Westfield would round out the scoring just over a minute later when a hard shot by Pliszka deflected off of a Bridgewater defender and into the back of the net.

The Bears held a 10-8 shot advantage for the game as well as a 12-7 edge in penalty corners.

Senior goaltender Kacie Sturgeon (Dartmouth, Mass.) turned aside three shots between the pipes for the Bears who also received a defensive save from junior defender Sarah Gendron (North Dighton, Mass.).

Freshman Megan Fountaine (Scituate, Mass.) stopped three shots in goal for the Owls.