By Jim Fenton

FITCHBURG, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University field hockey team finished the regular season with a road loss.

The Bears were defeated by Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Fitchburg State University, 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Elliot Field.

BSU will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will open on the road with a quarterfinal-round game on Tuesday.

The Bears (8-10) went 4-6 in the MASCAC. The Falcons, who have an opening-round bye, went 8-2 and are 10-8 overall.

Fitchburg State held a 3-0 lead at halftime before BSU closed within a goal with about 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Sophomore Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.) and freshman Taylor Carter (Walpole, Mass.) each had a goal and an assist for the Bears.

The Falcons took a 1-0 lead 10:09 into the game when freshman Samantha Jones (Uxbridge, Mass.) scored her ninth goal from senior Riley O'Brien (Townsend, Mass.).

They went up, 2-0, at 17:46 when junior Sophia Yates (Woodstock, Vt.) found the back of the net. Yates then made it 3-0 at 20:11 with her MASCAC-leading 17th goal of the 2024 campaign.

BSU got within 3-1 at 43:29 when Carter scored her second goal, assisted by Zuber.

At 50:09, the Bears pulled within 3-2 as Zuber scored from Carter.

Zuber now has eight goals and ten assists for 26 points. The ten assists ties Bethany Bush (2010) for the fourth highest single-season total in program history.

Carter increased her rookie assist total to nine, the most in a season by a BSU freshman and tied for the fifth highest in team annals.

Fitchburg State, however, scored an insurance goal at 57:29 with senior Jessica Morse (Leominster, Mass.) opening a two-goal lead.

Senior Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) had four saves for the Falcons.

BSU junior Brianna Gagnon (Tewksbury, Mass.) made seven saves in the first half while senior Catherine Daoulas (Marshfield, Mass.) stopped eight shots in the second half.

Fitchburg State outshots the Bears, 24-7, and had 19 shots on goal to BSU's six.