Worcester, MA --- Bridgewater State senior Bethany Bush (Littleton, MA) recorded a hat-trick to help propel the Bears to a 6-1 triumph over Worcester State this afternoon in Little East Conference field hockey action at Coughlin Field.

With the win BSU moves to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the LEC while the Lancers slip to 6-5 and 3-2 in the conference.

Fourth-year Nicole Henrique (Swansea, MA) got the Bears going as she netted her eighth marker of the season at 19:12 on an unassisted marker.

Bush then put the visitors on top 3-0 at the intermission when she registered two of her three goals 80 seconds apart in the final 10 minutes of the opening frame. The first marker came on a cross from sophomore Beth Phillips (Worcester, MA/St. Peter-Marian) and the second tally was scored off a rebounded save by Worcester State's goalie.

Bridgewater State broke the game open as they built up the lead to 6-0 within the first 15 minutes of the second stanza. Bush turned the trick at 38:53 on an unassisted marker, senior Liz Correia (Somerset, MA) potted her first career goal on a pass from the right corner from sophomore Katelyn Taylor (W. Bridgewater, MA) at 45:07 and Phillips tacked on the last goal at the 48:44 mark to complete the scoring for the Bears.

The Lancers would break the shutout bid at 52:07 when junior Sarah Cozzens (Lancaster, MA) scooped in her fourth tally of the season.

BSU senior keeper Katie Weber (Arlington, MA) collected nine saves in the win while junior Kat Masterjohn (Warren, MA) stopped 11 shots for the Lancers.

The Bears would finish with advantages in shots (23-11) and corners (9-8). The last time Worcester State allowed more than six goals in one contest was in the first round of the LEC tournament in 2007 to Keene State in a 7-0 setback to the Owls, a streak of 41 games.  

The Lancers look to get back in the swing of things when they travel to UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday for a 7 PM matchup while Bridgewater State will entertain Westfield State on Wednesday at 4 o'clock.