SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Oct. 30) – Senior midfielder Shannon Pescatello recorded a hat trick to lead Western New England College to a 3-1 win over Nichols in the quarterfinal round of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championship on Saturday afternoon.

 Pescatello notched the first goal at 16:41 to give the Golden Bears an early lead.

 At 38:40, Pescatello put WNEC up 2-0 as she bent in a corner kick over the outstretched arms of Nichols sophomore goalkeeper Maureen Lynch (Holbrook, Mass.).

 The Bison answered back just under a minute later as junior forward Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) tallied her eighth goal of the year to cut the lead to 2-1 heading into the halftime break.

 Pescatello completed her hat-trick in the 75th minute as she tucked a free kick inside the right post.

 The Golden Bears held a 17-8 edge in shots, and also enjoyed a 12-1 advantage in corner kicks.

 Freshman goalkeeper Kayla Prout earned the win in net as she turned away three shots in the contest.

 Lynch made four saves for the Bison.

 Western New England College advances to the semifinal round of TCCC Championship play, as they travel to #2 Endicott on Tuesday (Nov. 2) at 1:00 p.m. In the regular season, the Gulls topped the Golden Bears 3-2 in overtime (Sept. 18). Nichols, which made its third consecutive TCCC postseason appearance, concludes the season at 12-6-1.

Story courtesy Western New England Sports Information

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