Sawchuck's hat trick lifts Endicott into second place standing in the CCC

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott field hockey team had an offensive outburst in a crucial CCC match up against Western New England as the Gulls won 5-1 over the Golden Bears to stand alone in second place in the conference. 
 
Prior to today's game, both teams had a 2-1 record in CCC games.  Endicott won their third game in-a-row and improved to 4-7 (3-1 CCC) while Western New England had their two-game win-streak snapped, falling to 4-9 (2-2 CCC) on the year.
 
Endicott moves on to face CCC rival Gordon on Monday, October 10^th at 4:00 pm in Wenham.  Western New England hosts the top team in conference, University of New England, also on Monday at 4:00 pm in Springfield. 
 
Endicott's main catalyst on the attack was freshman forward Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine), who coming into today's game had four goals on the season.  Sawchuck netted a hat trick against the Golden Bears, two of which were in the first three minutes of the game. 
 
Sawchuck's first goal came at the 1:39 mark as she followed teammate Melissa Enright's (York Beach, Maine) initial shot that went off the pads of Western New England goalie Kaitlyn Hall (Pawtucket, R.I.) and finished to the left side of the cage to put Endicott up 1-0.  Just under a minute later, Sawchuck scored her second goal of the game with an assist to junior midfielder Taylor Matties (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), giving the Gulls a 2-0 advantage early in the first half. 
 
Endicott would tack on another goal before halftime in the 28^th minute when freshman midfielder Elizabeth LeClair (Wilton, Maine) scored her first collegiate goal off a rebound from a Taylor Matties shot.  Matties earned her second assist of the game on the play. 
 
At the end of the first half, Endicott had outshot Western New England 18-4 and took nine penalty corners compared to just three for the Golden Bears.  Golden Bears goalie Kaitlyn Hall had 10 saves in the first 35 minutes. 
 
The Blue and Green scored within the first two minutes of the second half as Matties caught a pass from sophomore forward Stacie Teevens (Westborough, Mass.) and saw her shot sneak through the legs of the goalie to put Endicott up 3-0.  It was Matties' second goal of the year.
 
At 61:18, Sawchuck completed her hat trick after redirecting a pass from Matties to the back of the cage.  Matties finished the day with one goal and three assists. 
 
With 45 seconds remaining in the game, the Golden Bears spoiled Endicott's hopes for a shutout as freshman midfielder Whitney Fraleigh (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) found herself alone in front of the net and finished her shot attempt past Gulls junior goalie Taylor Teixeira (Exeter, N.H.). 
 
Teixeira still managed seven saves in the game as she improved to 3-1 with a 1.75 goals against average in conference games. 
 
The Golden Bears had an impressive highlight in the game when in the 9^th minute, senior defender Kathleen Jasinski (Templeton, Mass.) made a defensive save on a looping shot from Endicott's Melissa Enright to keep the score at 2-0.