PSU field hockey falls short against Westfield State

The Plymouth State Women's Field Hockey team fell to Westfield State College on Sat., Oct. 11 by a score of 3-2.  PSU fell to 5-5 on the season with a 4-3 Little East Conference record while Westfield State improved to a record of 6-5 with a 2-4 Little East record.

Westfield State opened up firing on all cylinders scoring the first three goals of the game and posted a 3-0 half-time lead.  First year WSC student Jessi Gould scored two

goals in the first half.  Gould scored an unassisted goal in the opening minutes of the game and then struck again in the final minute of the first half, which was assisted by senior Vicky Winson.  

Sophomore Alicia Gardner tallied the other goal for the Owl's, which was also assisted by Vicky Wilson.  Although PSU fell to an early 3-0 deficit, coach Bonnie Lord was pleased with how her two captains, Courtney Colligan and Melinda Rozumek, stepped up and helped slow down WSC's momentum, "Colligan and Rozumek truly stepped into leadership roles on the field and when you are in total chaos you need that," said Lord. 

PSU opened up the second half by cutting the WSC lead to 3-1 on an assisted goal by first year student Lauren Bergeron.  Less than a minute later, PSU cut the WSC to 3-2 when sophomore Kristina Conroy connected on a goal following a penalty.  That would be the closest the Panthers would get, as WSC would not allow another goal for the rest of the afternoon. PSU was not able to overcome the slow first half but they did keep the pressure on WSC by out shooting the Owls in the second half 9-0.

This is PSU's second straight loss in the past week. PSU had a great rally in this game but failed to tie the game late in the match. Even with the loss, PSU is still in the middle of the pack in the Little East Conference and is ready to push through the second half of the season. Coach Bonnie Lord is taking it one game at a time, "We have a saying 'it doesn't matter what you did 10 seconds ago, what matters is what you do within the next 10 seconds," said Lord, "We take the lessons learned from each game - win or lose and apply them in the next game."

PSU will move on to a non-conference game against New England College.  NEC has a 9-4 record on the season.  Westfield State will try to continue their winning ways against Becker College.