By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- A successful fall athletics season at Bridgewater State University came to a close over the weekend.
The season began with two soccer games and a field hockey game back on Aug. 30 and ended at the NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning.
Four teams were crowned either Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season or tournament champions during the nearly three-month stretch.
Two of those teams returned to NCAA Division III tournaments for the first time in more than a decade and junior Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.) competed in her second straight NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships race in Terre Haute, Ind.
Here's a look back at how the nine fall sports teams fared in the first portion of the 2024-25 academic year at BSU:
BSU won the MASCAC championship for the third time in five years and ninth overall. The Bears had five runners place in the top seven in Leominster.
Senior Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) was the MASCAC Male Runner of the Year after winning the 8-kilometer race in 26:20.99.
Also earning all-conference honors were junior Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.), who was fourth, sophomore Aydan Fournier (Assonet, Mass.), who was fifth, junior Mitchell Parent (Cumberland, Maine), who took sixth, and senior Kenny Goodwin (Chelmsford, Mass.), who was seventh.
BSU's Christine Kloiber was selected the MASCAC Coach of the Year.
Cass won her second straight MASCAC title, winning the championship race by nearly 25 seconds. She also earned All-East honors for a second straight year by placing sixth Cass at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds.
Cass became the first BSU runner to qualify for the two NCAA Championships, which began in 1981, and traveled to Indiana for Saturday's national race.
In a field of 293 runners, Cass was 115th at the NCAAs in 22:27. A year ago, Cass was 149th in Newville, Pa.
Cass is the first MASCAC women's runner to repeat as champion since Jess Cardin of Westfield State won four in a row from 2014-17.
She is the first Bears' runner to accomplish the feat since BSU Athletics Hall of Famer Molly Rouillard won three consecutive titles from 2010-12.
BSU senior Lily Valcovic (East Taunton, Mass.) joined Cass on the All-MASCAC team after finishing ninth.
BSU took part in four shows during the fall portion of its schedule. The shows were hosted by Brandeis, Connecticut, Stonehill and a combined one by Boston University and Tufts.
The Bears placed fifth at UConn with sophomore captain Abigail Abbott (Wareham, Mass.) was first in intermediate fences and fourth in intermediate flat.
Junior captain Emily Desmond (Braintree, Mass.) took home the blue ribbon in the intermediate flat division and was fourth in limit fences while freshman Julia Max (Salem, N.H.) was second in limit flat and third in the limit fences division.
At the Brandeis-hosted show, Abbott earned the blue ribbon and qualified her for regionals.
BSU's season will resume March 1 at UConn.
The fifth-seeded Bears made it to the MASCAC championship game before losing to Westfield State, 2-1.
It was the first title game appearance for BSU since losing to UMass Dartmouth, 3-1, in the Little East Conference final in 2010.
The Bears (10-11, 4-6 in the conference) reached double figures in wins for the first time since 2016 and upset top-seeded Fitchburg State in the semifinal round.
Freshman forward Samantha Souza (Dartmouth, Mass.) was selected the MASCAC Co-Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the all-conference first team.
Named to the all-conference second team were sophomore midfielder Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.), junior forward Lexi James (Ipswich, Mass.), senior defender Noelle Cornetta (Hanson, Mass.) and junior defender Emelia Westwater (Attleboro, Mass.).
BSU (5-5, 5-4 MASCAC) opened the season with three straight losses and ended the year with a three-game winning streak.
The highlight of the season was a 20-0 win over the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the 45th annual Cranberry Bowl at Mazzaferro Field.
The Bears have won six straight over the Buccaneers and own a 34-10-1 lead in the Cranberry Bowl, which began in 1979.
Four BSU players made the All-MASCAC first team, including graduate student Shane Drake (Franklin, Mass.) as the punter for a third year in a row, junior cornerback Brandon Medeiros (Somerset, Mass.), senior defensive tackle Nicolas Canales (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and junior kicker Joey Naso (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) for a second straight year.
Bears freshman running back Zy'Kie Askew (Middletown, Conn.) was selected the MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Chosen to the All-MASCAC second team were senior center Anton Vasquez (Nahant, Mass.), senior right guard Michael Garafola (Bradford, R.I.), senior running back Trevor Nunes (Falmouth, Mass.) and senior fullback Matthew Rinta (Wareham, Mass.).
The Bears won their second straight MASCAC regular-season title, going 6-1, and finished 10-5-3.
BSU was eliminated in the opening round of the MASCAC tourney by Salem State, which advanced on penalty kicks.
Brendan Adams was named the conference's coach of the year for a second straight season. Adams also earned the 200th win of his career on Oct. 2 with a 1-0 victory over Salve Regina at home.
The Bears had four players on the All-MASCAC first team, including sophomore midfielders Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) and Tyler Chang (Acushnet, Mass.), sophomore defender Hector Bucio (Easton, Mass.) and junior defender Gavin Norton (Rockland, Mass.), their leading scorer.
Picked to the All-MASCAC second team were senior midfielder Nicolas Matias (Framingham, Mass.), junior forward Filippo Mucci (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and senior goalkeeper Lukas Ekmanis (Baxter, Tenn.).
For the first time ever, the Bears swept both the MASCAC regular-season and tournament championships, finishing 12-5-3 and 6-0-1 in the conference.
BSU earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013 after three-time defeating defending champion Westfield State, 3-2, in the MASCAC final.
The Bears traveled to Ewing, N.J., and lost to 10th-ranked The College of New Jersey, 2-0, in the NCAAs.
Senior Sydney Dewhurst (East Bridgewater, Mass.) was named the MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year and BSU's Yasmina Carvalho was named the MASCAC Coach of the Year for a second straight season and fourth time overall.
Carvalho became the winningest coach in program history and is 98-71-19.
Dewhurst was joined on the All-MASCAC first team by junior forward Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass.), junior midfielder Jenna Sweeney (Wilmington, Mass.), senior defender Bailey Brown (Plymouth, Mass.) and junior goalkeeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I.).
Named to the All-MASCAC second team were graduate student Emily McCormack (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and senior midfielder Makenna Lessard (East Bridgewater, Mass.).
The Bears finished 10-4 and went 6-2 in the Little East, losing to Rhode Island College, 5-0, in the tournament's semifinal round.
Senior Madeline Von Ruden (Ashley Falls, Mass.) made the All-Little East Conference Team in singles and doubles for a fourth time in her career.
Von Ruden, who played at No. 1 throughout her career, was chosen to the all-conference first team in singles and also the first team in doubles with graduate student Mackenzie Silveira (Middletown, R.I.).
Silveira was also selected to the All-Little East second team in singles.
For the first time since 2008, the Bears won the MASCAC tournament championship and played in the NCAA Division III tourney.
BSU (13-10) went 6-1 in the MASCAC to finish second, then rallied past Westfield State for a 3-2 win in the championship game. The Bears lost the first two sets and trailed, 5-0, in the third set before pulling off the comeback.
BSU had been picked to finish fifth in the MASCAC after going 4-13 a year earlier.
In the NCAAs, the Bears lost to third-ranked Johns Hopkins University, 3-0, in Baltimore, Md.
Sophomore hitter Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) made the all-conference first team. Tony daSilveira was the MASCAC Coach of the Year, the first BSU coach to earn that honor since Ken Duarte in 2003.
Bridgewater State is in second place in the Howard C. Smith Cup standings following the fall season with 64 points out of a possible 76 (84.2%). The Bears trail four-time defending champion Westfield State (68 pts, 89.5%).
The Smith Cup is awarded to the MASCAC institution which compiles the most points based on the placement of each of its programs competing in the 15 league championships.