Field Hockey Stumps Bay Path For First Conference Win

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College field hockey team seized their second win of the season over host Bay Path University in their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener, posting a 2-0 victory on Leary Field Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Blazers move to 2-6 on the season and 1-0 in conference action, while the Wildcats drop to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in NECC play.

Elms wasted little time applying offensive pressure as they created lanes down the field and posted the first two shots of the afternoon to which Bay Path junior keeper Bethany Rogers (Plymouth, Mass.) blocked from the cage. However, Elms was able to quickly light up the scoreboard posting their first tally of the contest at the 11:21 mark when senior Marie Lafortune (Southwick, Mass.) connected off of a loose ball near the box. From there, Elms would carry on in the shot column posting 11 shots to Bay Path's three in the first half. Despite numerous runs the Blazers would head into the second half owning a 1-0 score board. 

Elms captured their second goal of the afternoon on a quick note as Madison Messier (Warren, Mass.) found the back of the cage off of a Lafortune connection to create a 2-0 advantage for the Blazers at the 38:09 marker. Despite Wildcat efforts, Elms was able to nurse this lead to the end walking away with the victory. 

The Blazers outshot the Wildcats, 19-5, during the contest. Sophomore Jillian Lapponese (Enfield, Conn.) collected three saves on the day while Rogers stopped a match-high 11 saves in the contest.

The Blazers will return to action on Tuesday, September 27th as they will play host to Clark University for a 7p.m. start. The Wildcats will face off against Regis (Mass.) October 1st, with a 10:00 a.m. start time. 

ELMS FIELD HOCKEY