Near hat trick for Hatfield downs Seahawks

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore forward Mackenzie Hatfield (Whitman, Mass.) registered six points on two goals and two assists, and junior forward Erica Jonasson (Wrentham, Mass.) added a pair of goals, as the Bridgewater State University women's soccer team posted a 5-1 victory over visiting Salve Regina University on Tuesday evening at Swenson Field.

 Bridgewater State improves to 3-2-1 on the season with the win, while Salve Regina slips to 1-7-1.  The Bears are now 15-3 all-time versus the Seahawks. 

Hatfield tallied her first goal of the season just 3:41 into the game to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.  Off a through ball from senior midfielder Katie Nasuti (Millbury, Mass.), Hatfield got behind the Salve defense and buried a shot into the left side of the net. 

A little more than four minutes later (and 2 ½ minutes after she rang the crossbar), Jonasson notched her sixth goal of the 2013 campaign as she was sent in on breakaway on a give-and-go with Hatfield.  Jonasson potted her team-leading seventh marker of the season in the 16th minute as she buried a perfect cross from Hatfield into a wide-open net.  Sophomore defender Bridget O'Leary (Whitman, Mass.) started the play and picked up the second assist with a long pass down the right sideline. 

Salve Regina had a golden opportunity to get on the board with under ten minutes remaining in the opening stanza on a breakaway by senior forward Erin McCullough (Ludlow, Mass.). McCullough's shot, however, skipped wide of the left post. 

Hatfield hit the inside of the right post ten minutes into the second half before netting her second goal of the game as she knocked in a loose ball of a corner kick to make it a 4-0 game in the 76th minute. 

McCullough spoiled the Bears' shutout bid as she scored on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute.

Bridgewater got that goal back less than two minutes later as sophomore defender Marisa Russo (Dartmouth, Mass.) capped of the scoring with her first collegiate goal.  Off a give-and-go, Russo was sent in on a breakaway on a perfectly executed feed from freshman midfielder Drew Guay (Fall River, Mass.). 

The Bears held a 24-9 shot advantage for the game as well as a 5-4 edge in corner kicks. Sophomore keeper Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) turned aside three shots and did not give up a goal in a little over 75 minutes of work.  Classmate Emma Titus (Salem, Mass.) made one save in relief of Yowell.  Freshmen Kaylee Miller (West Warwick, RI.) and Carly Montgomery (Malverne, N.Y.) combined to make eight stops between the pipes for the Seahawks. 

In upcoming action, Bridgewater travels to Roger Williams University on Thursday evening for a 7 p.m. non-conference game with the Hawks.  Salve Regina hosts those same Hawks in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game on Saturday at noon.