SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Courtney Scott (Herndon, Pa.) led all players with five points to pace visiting Gordon College to a 4-0 victory Wednesday over Western New England University in Commonwealth Coast Conference field hockey action at Golden Bear Stadium. The Fighting Scots improve to 11-8 overall and 8-3 in the CCC, while the Golden Bears fall to 6-12 and 3-8 in the conference.
 
Freshman goalie Grace Trupe made eight saves and junior co-captain Katherine Ferrari and freshman Lauren Palmateer had a defensive save apiece as the Golden Bears faced 20 shots.
 
Freshmen Brittany DeLima, Allison Jackson and senior co-captain Megan French combined for six of Western New England's eight shots, with two on goal. French was making her final home appearance in a Golden Bears career that spans 50 games going into Saturday.
 
After Gordon threatened with two good looks in the opening three minutes, WNE's first excellent scoring opportunity occurred in the 7th minute. Freshman Michelle Carlson fed a penalty corner to DeLima, who scorched a shot wide right that came from near the top of the arc.
 
French almost put the Golden Bears up 1-0 in the 23rd minute with a close-range shot but Collette Newcombe made the defensive save.
 
But in the 27th minute, Scott broke a scoreless tie with the only goal the Fighting Scots would need on the evening. There was a battle for possession of the ball near the top of the arc and it trickled down to Scott, who turned in one motion and slapped a shot from 10 yards away between the leg pads of Trupe.
 
Western New England nearly tied the game on a set piece just before halftime. In the 34th minute, Carlson gave a penalty corner pass to junior Sabrina Lyesiuk at the top of the arc. Lyesiuk then blasted a shot that tipped off the stick of Jackson down low and just wide left of the cage.
 
Holding a slim 1-0 lead at the intermission, the Fighting Scots earned an insurance goal in the 46th minute. Scott received a pass from the back near midfield and dribbled for about 35 yards down the right side, flipping a pass across the goalmouth for a tip-in goal by Alyssa Doucett (Barrington, N.H.).
 
Gordon broke open what was a close game in the 58th minute when Katherine Bailey (Baltimore, Md.) and Scott scored 1 minute and 5 seconds apart to give the Fighting Scots a comfortable four-goal margin. After Karli Weiss's (Perkasie, Pa.) shot was blocked, Bailey emerged out of a scrum in front of the goal and tapped in her fifth tally of the season. Scott, too, followed up on a rebound, this time on her original shot that was stopped by Trupe.
 
Shannon Hicks (Scarborough, Maine) had to make just one save for Gordon to earn her fifth shutout this fall.
 
Western New England will have its season finale on Saturday when the Golden Bears travel to Biddeford, Maine, to face CCC leader University of New England, starting at 4 p.m. Gordon ends its regular season on Saturday morning at Endicott, a game that will determine who gets the second seed and home field advantage for the CCC semifinals.
 
Either way, Gordon and Endicott will play each other in back-to-back games. The Fighting Scots took the first meeting between the two teams, a 3-2 2OT win on Homecoming Weekend. 

Release courtesy of WNE Sports Info