Farland Reaches 100-Point Milestone as Field Hockey Blanks Westfield, 3-0

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior midfielder Shelby Farland (Fiskdale, Mass.) notched a goal and an assist, including her 100th career point, to lead the Bridgewater State University field hockey team to a 3-0 shutout of Little East Conference rival Westfield State University on Wednesday evening at Swenson Field.

Winners of three straight games, Bridgewater improves to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Little East.  With just one loss over the first nine games, the Bears are off to their best start since the 1985 team went unbeaten through the first ten contests (9-0-1) and finished the season with a record of 11-3-1. Westfield evens its record at 4-4 with the loss and slips to 1-3 in conference play.

After a scoreless first half, senior forward Beth Phillips (Worcester, Mass.) broke the ice her sixth goal of the season in the 49th minute of play.  Phillips corralled a shot from Farland and slipped the ball past the Westfield keeper and into the left side of the net.  The assist for Farland gave her 100 points in her career as she became just the third player in program history to reach the milestone.

Less than three minutes later, Farland picked up a loose ball from about 35 yards out, stick-handled past two Westfield defenders and blistered a shot from just inside the circle for her team and conference leading 13th goal of the season.

Freshman midfielder Emily Mosca (Dedham, Mass.) capped off the scoring for the Bears in the 57th minute as she notched her first collegiate goal.  Mosca's shot from outside the circle was deflected in off of a Westfield stick.

The Bears held a 17-1 shot advantage for the game as well as a 14-6 edge in penalty corners.  BSU junior netminder Kacie Sturgeon (Dartmouth, Mass.) picked up her second win in as many starts and posted her first career shutout as she was forced to make just one save.  Westfield senior goaltender Khrystyna Mitchell (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) turned aside none shots for the Owls.

The Little East Conference schedule resumes for both teams on Saturday afternoon.  Bridgewater travels to Worcester State University for a three o'clock game with the Lancers, while Westfield heads up to the University of Southern Maine to take on the Huskies at 2:30.

Notes: Farland's 102 career points trails only Bethany Bush (119 pts) and BSU Hall of Famer Karen Croteau (186 pts) on the Bears' all-time list…With the win, the Bears avenged a 5-1 home loss to Westfield in last season's Little East Tournament quarterfinals.