DeLima’s Three First Half Goals Help Western New England Defeat Wheelock, 7-1, in Season Opener

Golden Bears outshoot Wildcats 35-12, including 22-4 in first half

BOSTON, Mass. (September 1, 2017) – Led by three goals from senior forward Brittany DeLima (Branchville, N.J.), the Western New England University field hockey team opened up a 5-0 halftime lead en route to a 7-1 victory over Wheelock College this evening in non-conference action at Winsor Field.  

Top Performers
• DeLima, who tied for the team lead with 12 goals last season, tallied three in tonight's season opener to lead the Western New England offense.
• Seniors Michelle Carlson (Hackettstown, N.J.) and Allison Jackson (Mahopac, N.Y.) also posted multi-point efforts with one goal and one assist each, while freshman Hailey Daigneault (Longmeadow, Mass.) dished out two assists in her collegiate debut.
• Senior goalie Grace Trupe (Cardiff, Calif.) stopped five of the six shots that she faced.

• Senior Katie Frade (Dartmouth, Mass.) accounted for Wheelock's only goal early in the second half.

Game Review
• DeLima got the Golden Bears on the board 1:38 into the contest on a feed from Daigneault, and Carlson made it 2-0 at the 4:03 mark with the help of Jackson.
• After DeLima stretched Western New England's lead to 3-0 just over eight minutes later, Jackson tallied her first of the season with ten minutes left in the half. DeLima completed her hat trick 54 seconds before the break as the Golden Bears took a commanding 5-0 lead into halftime.
• Frade snapped Trupe's shutout bid early in the second half, but sophomore Jacqueline Clark (Auburn, Mass.) restored Western New England's five-goal lead in the 47^th minute.
• Freshman Paige LaFerriere (Windham, Maine) capped the scoring with her first career goal late in regulation.

Notes
• Tonight's win marks Western New England's fourth consecutive season-opening victory over Wheelock dating back to 2014.
• Following her three-goal effort, DeLima now has 32 career goals, good for fourth in program history. The senior needs five to match Alyssa Katz for third all-time.
• The Golden Bears outshot the Wildcats 35-12, including 22-4 during a dominant first half performance.

Up Next
Western New England (1-0) returns home to host Springfield College next Wednesday, while Wheelock (0-1) will be on the road at New England College on Sunday.