Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Western New England University field hockey team fought valiantly to a scoreless first half against Commonwealth Coast Conference co-leader University of New England on Saturday evening, but Erin Bibber scored twice in the second to spark the visiting Nor'easters to a 4-1 victory at Golden Bear Stadium. The Golden Bears fall to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in the CCC, while UNE improves to 7-4 on the season and 5-1 in the conference.

The teams went into the halftime break with a 0-0 tie as UNE outshot the Golden Bears by a slim 5-2 margin. Bibber opened the scoring in the 44th minute to start the second half, taking a feed from Kayla Lambert.

Western New England tied the game at 1-all in the 48th minute on freshman Michelle Carlson's third goal of the season, receiving a pass from classmate Brittany DeLima.

But UNE came right back with the go-ahead goal 2 minutes and 30 seconds later off Alex Staples' stick. Alyssa Kowal was credited with the assist.

Bibber scored her second goal of the night in the 57th minute, unassisted. She leads the team with nine goals, which ranks second in the CCC. The Nor'easters increased their lead to 3-1 at the time.

In the 61st minute, Vonde Saunders and Hannah Warren combined for the Nor'easters final goal to account for the final margin.

UNE outshot WNE by a 16-4 margin and had a decided advantage on penalty corners at 18 to 1. Carlson had two of the Golden Bears shots--both on cage.

Western New England freshman goalie Renee Rossignol started the game and made two saves before giving way in the 62nd minute to classmate Grace Trupe, who played the final 8:13 while stopping one shot. Junior tri-captain Katherine Ferrari contributed a defensive save. On the other end, Holly Smith played the entire 70 and recorded two saves.

After six straight CCC games, WNE steps out of conference on Thursday to host Smith College in the second of a three-game homestand at Golden Bear Stadium, starting at 7 p.m.