WESTFIELD, Mass. – Worcester State University's junior midfielder, Catherine Clark (Worcester, Mass.) scored her first-ever collegiate goals, including the game-winner in the 73rd minute, to boost the Lancers to a 2-1 victory over Westfield State University Friday (Oct. 21) evening.
The Lancers conclude their regular season with an impressive 13-5 record and 9-2 in the Little East Conference (LEC) – one of the best records the Lancers have seen within a 10-year span. The Lancers also secured the second-seed in next week's LEC tournament.
Westfield peppered Worcester with an early sequence of penalty corners in the first half, but couldn't climb on the scoreboard. Clark finally broke through for Worcester off the remnant of a corner play, as Morgan Cooper (Fitchburg, Mass.) deflected a teammates shot toward Clark, who lifted her shot over Owls goalkeeper Megan Fountaine (Scituate, Mass.) and into the net for a 1-0 lead with 7:01 to play in the half.
Westfield thwarted several more Lancer scoring tries in the first half, as Delaney Gembis (Chelmsford, Mass.) and then Alexa Whitney (Athol, Mass.) each came up with defensive saves for the Owls.
Westfield finally leveled the game at 1-1 13:35 into the second half, as Jenelle Juskiewicz (Orange, Mass.) gathered the ball near the top of the circle and wheeled with a backhanded shot that rolled through traffic an past Worcester goalkeeper Kathryn Salemme (Acton, Mass.).
Both teams had chances to score late in regulation. Worcester had a shot from Michaila Parent (Westborough, Mass.) hit the sideboard of the net with 4:14 left.
Westfield generated a pair of penalty corners in the final minute, the last was played out after time expired with the Owls' Carly Zona (Auburn, Mass.) blasting a shot from just inside the top of the arc that Salemme slid to her right to save.
Clark finally ended the duel with a goal off a corner play as Meghan Pini (Natick, Mass.) slid the ball to her through defenders for the game-winner. Worcester's regular season is complete and the Lancers will wait to find who they will host in the opening round of the LEC tournament on Saturday, November 1.
Release and Photos Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information