Westfield State 3, Worcester State 1
Worcester, MA --- Junior forward Kate Moss (Auburn, MA) notched a pair of goals and senior midfielder Vicky Winson (Upton, MA) tallied a marker and an assist to help lead Westfield State over Worcester State, 3-1, in the opening weekend of Little East Conference play. The Owls improve to 3-1 overall while the Lancers falls to 2-3.
Worcester State sophomore forward Angela Johnson (Ashby, MA) knocked in the first goal of the game on a breakaway shot at 9:49.
The Owls then knotted the game up 1-1 six minutes later on an unassisted shot by Moss, off of a penalty corner (15:43).
Westfield State ended the half with a 13-3 edge in shots, but the Lancers played outstanding defense throughout the half. At 21:35, freshman Jessi Gould (Canton, MA) and Moss each delivered three shots on goal, but the first was rejected by senior Erin MacDonald (Dedham, MA) and the last two were deflected off of the stick of senior Kim Cosenza (Fitchburg, MA).
Westfield State came out of the intermission and scored the go-ahead goal on a rocket, off of the opening shot of a penalty corner by Winston at 37:14. The Owls added some insurance at 54:17 when Winston found Moss for her second goal of the afternoon to put Westfield ahead for good.
Worcester State led the second half in shots (9-6) and penalty corners (11-4), but they could not generate any offense off of the extra opportunities that the Owls gave them.
MacDonald finished the game with six saves while her counterpart, freshman Amanda McCarthy (Franklin, MA) registered five stops between the pipes for the visitors. Cosenza finished with four defensive saves after she added two more deflections in the second stanza.
Cosenza, Johnson and senior forward Megan Rosborough (Uxbridge, MA) each led the Lancers with three shots while Gould recorded three shots on goal and Moss led both teams with five attempts on the opposing net minder.
Both teams will play non-conference opponents on Thursday at 7 PM. Worcester State will travel down Park Ave to visit WPI while Westfield State faces-off against Western New England.