FRANKLIN, Mass.- The Dean College Bulldogs field hockey team continued their historic season, clinching a berth in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoffs with a 5-0 win over Albertus Magnus on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will await their seeding by the league to determine the site and opponent of their playoff game.

Sophomore Shea Cassani (Belgrade, Maine) got the party started early, scoring off a feed from first-year Emma Gragen (Brattleboro, Vt.) one minute into the contest to give the Bulldogs the early lead. Ten minutes later, junior Sydnee Ramos (New Bedford, Mass.) scored her first of two goals in the game, unassisted, to give Dean a 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, first-year Katrina Lee (Brookline, N.H.) scored her first goal of her career to push the Bulldogs advantage to 3-0 at the halftime break. Dean outshot the Falcons 12-1 in the first half and held a 6-0 edge in penalty corners.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Bulldogs added two more goals, one from Ramos, and one from first-year Sophia Merenda (Amherst, N.H.), also her first career goal,  to provide some insurance at 5-0. Dean cruised down the stretch for the decisive regular season ending win. 

First-year goalie Sara Gardner (Hampstead, Md.) pitched a shutout, making one save in 60 minutes of work. She finishes her first regular season with a 6-8 record, 113 saves, and a .758 save percentage. Ramos wrapped up the season with 15 points on five goals and five assists, good for second on the team behind first-year forward Emily Yazzetti (Mahopac, N.Y.), who recorded 13 goals and seven assists for 33 points. 

Dean will play in the GNAC quarterfinals on Saturday. Time and opponent still to be determined.