BSC Women's Soccer defeats Plymouth State 4-2

By- Steven M Miller Jr, Staff Writer

Midfielder Taryn Sullivan scored a pair of goals to lead Bridgewater State College over Plymouth State University in a 4-2 decision on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Bears have won six of their last eight games and their record now stands at 7-5-1. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 5-8 on the season.

Plymouth State got on the board first in the 35th minute when sophomore forward Stacy DiSabato on an assist from midfielder Lauren Lavery.

“Being down one, I was still very confident that we would score some goals,” said head coach Andrea O’Connor. “Going into the second half we had the momentum and I knew it was only a matter of time.”

Bridgewater State College responded after the first stanza, with a pair of goals 53 seconds apart. Midfielder Jacklyn Wisoky tied the game in the 48th minute and Sullivan scored the go-ahead tally on a dish from forward Megan Williamson.

The Bears took the lead for good in the 55th minute on Williamson’s eighth goal of the season on a shot that squeaked past the Plymouth State keeper.

The Panthers pulled to within a goal in the 65th minute, but Sullivan answered back with her second goal of the game less than a minute later.

The Bears were relentless on offense as they held an advantage a 33-12 advantage in shots and edge in corner kicks 10-3.

“My team is a team that doesn’t hang its head when it can’t score,” said O’Connor. “They have the confidence in their ability to score. This year more so than any other year we have the ability to finish.”

Bridgewater State goalie Ashley Spingler registered four saves in her second start of the season while her counterpart Ashley Riberdy made 11 stops between the posts for Plymouth State.

Over the upcoming weekend, the Bears will face off against conference foe Salem State in a 4pm match on Saturday afternoon. They will then play their last two games at home versus Keene State on Tuesday (3:30pm) and Framingham on Saturday (11am).

“We still have to get by Framingham and Salem State, who have beaten some good teams,” said O’Connor. “We have to make a few adjustments and play our game which is putting teams under pressure and scoring goals.”

With a 2-1-1 MASCAC record, Bridgewater State looks to maintain its record and get as high a seed as they can for the conference tournament in two weeks.

“I think that we are very strong and in a great position to win the MASCAC,” said O’Connor. “We will definitely be a battle in the tournament.”

Extra points:

Coach O’Connor on her disappointments (in the Plymouth State game):

“We definitely had the better play for the first 45 minutes and their goal was a mistake on our part. (It was) a breakdown on the defensive end.”

Coach O’Connor on what she said to her team at the intermission (down 1-0):

“I expressed to my team how important it was to keep the pressure on. They did and we had three goals in the first fifteen minutes of the half.”

Coach O’Connor tying to Fitchburg and losing to Worcester State:

“We definitely should have beaten Fitchburg (the tie)”…”Worcester (the lone loss) will be our toughest competition. We didn’t play well and they played well. They put the pressure on us right from the whistle and we didn’t respond."