Field Hockey Unable To Overcome Early Burst From Western New England

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Elms College field hockey squad was unable to overcome an early three-goal deficit against Western New England, as the Blazers fell to the Golden Bears, 6-1, at Golden Bear Stadium Wednesday evening.

Western New England raced to an early 3-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes of play. At the 2:23 mark, WNEU's Brittany DeLima scored, and then assisted a tally from Allison Jackson in the sixth minute of play. An unassisted goal from Megan French gave the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead with 24:06 remaining in the first half.

Elms netted their lone goal of the contest at the 20:07 mark as senior forward Meghan Goodrow (Sunderland, Mass.) fired a shot past Western New England goalkeeper Renee Rossignol (2-1), to cut the Blazers deficit to 3-1.

The Golden Bears regained a three-goal advantage as French scored her second goal of the contest with 8:32 to play in the opening half. Western New England maintained a 4-1 lead heading into halftime.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Golden Bears Brittany DeLima placed a shot past Elms junior goalie Samantha Alvino (Holtsville, N.Y.), to push the WNEU lead to 5-1. The final strike from the Golden Bears came in the 65^th minute as French registered a hat trick with her third goal of the game, send Western New England to the 6-1 win.

The Golden Bears outshot the Blazers, 18-5, during the contest. Alvino (0-4) made a game-high nine saves for Elms, while Rossignol (2-1) had one stop for Western New England.

The Blazers moved to 0-4 on the season, while Western New England improved to 2-1 overall. Elms will return to the field at Worcester Poly on Saturday afternoon. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m.

ELMS FIELD HOCKEY