Field Hockey Rides Fast Start to 5-0 Victory at Nichols

DUDLEY, Mass. (October 20, 2015) - The Western New England University field hockey team scored two goals in the opening eight and a half minutes and led 4-0 at halftime en route to a 5-0 shutout victory at Nichols College this afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Vendetti Field.

Sophomore forward Brittany DeLima (Branchville, N.J.) spearheaded the early surge, tallying five points over the first fifteen minutes of action on a pair of goals and an assist. DeLima staked the Golden Bears to a 1-0 lead just under three minutes into the contest, when she took a pass from classmate Lauren Palmateer (Coxsackie, N.Y.) and fired a turnaround shot past Bison junior goalkeeper Ariana Beauregard (Coventry, R.I.).

DeLima then helped set up Western New England's second goal five and a half minutes later, sending a pass from the right side to freshman midfielder Emily Antinozzi (Rye, N.Y.), who buried a shot into the vacant net for her third marker of the season.

DeLima and Palmateer went on to register goals in the 16^th and 32^nd minutes, respectively, as the Golden Bears carried a 4-0 lead into the break. The Western New England offense produced 21 shots in the first half, including 14 on target.

Sophomore forward Allison Jackson (Mahopac, N.Y.) capped the scoring in the 65^th minute, potting her team-leading eighth goal of the season (T-8^th in CCC) with a shot from just inside the circle. The Golden Bears ended the evening with 34 total shots (25 on target) to Nichols' 14 (7), while also holding a 10-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Sophomores Grace Trupe (Cardiff, Calif.) and Dominique Corveddu (Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y) split the goaltending duties for Western New England, logging 35 minutes apiece and registering two and five saves, respectively.

Beauregard made eight saves in the first half for Nichols, before giving way to junior Katherine Cotton (Kennebunk, Maine), who came on for the second half and turned aside six of the seven shots that came her way. Junior Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) led all players with four defensive saves.

Western New England (7-7, 4-5 CCC) will be on the road for two more matches this week, heading to South Hadley, Mass. for a non-conference clash with Mount Holyoke on Thursday before returning to conference play on Saturday afternoon at Salve Regina. Nichols (1-14, 0-9 CCC) will be back in action on Friday night against the University of New England.