Golden Goal Lifts Vikings Over Bears
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salem St. (5-7, 3-3) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
Bridgewater St. (3-7, 1-5) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Salem State field hockey found themselves on the road tonight as they took on the Bears of Bridgewater State University. The Vikings would need four extra minutes of field hockey before taking the 3-2 victory over the Bears, to improve to 3-3 in conference play.
Four minutes into play Kaia Hollingsworth (Methuen, Mass.) had an opportunity to notch the game's first goal, but her chance was denied by Bear's goalie, Kailey Hutchinson (Fall River, Mass.). Shortly after when it looked like the Bears would take an early lead, Aleena Frith (Pepperell, Mass.) made a defensive save to keep the game scoreless, which would carry through the remainder of the stanza.
Just one minute into the second quarter, Raegen Perry (Nantucket, Mass.) notched the game's first goal after converting a pass from Lexi James (Ipswich, Mass.) to give the Bears the 1-0 tilt. Four minutes later Perry notched her second goal of the game to double Bridgewater's lead, 2-0. The Bears would spend the rest of the half trying to add to their tally, but Izzy Mosley (Middleborough, Mass.) saved four shots to keep her squad's deficit at two to enter the break.
Six minutes into the half, Melanie Mason (Beverly, Mass.) brought the Vikings back within striking distance as she snuck one past Hutchinson to cut into the Bears' lead to one (2-1). Teammate, Hannah Cochran (Marshfield, Mass.) looked to tie the game, but Hutchinson was able to turn that one away to keep her team's lead alive.
In the final quarter, Salem's aggressive play on offense resulted in Melanie Mason notching her second goal of the game off a helper from her sister, Mikayla Mason (Beverly, Mass.), to tie the game at two with ten minutes to play in regulation. The two-goal stalemate would carry through the final minutes, sending the game to overtime to determine a winner.
The Vikings would pull out the heroics four minutes in as Mikayla Mason found Frith for the golden goal, ending the game and solidifying the 3-2 victory for Salem.