WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State's Andre Ipojuca (Saugus, Mass.) led the team with two goals in the top-seeded Lancers' 4-1 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament Semifinal victory over the No. 5 seeded Bridgewater State Bears Friday evening at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field.
With the win, the Lancers (11-6) advance to the MASCAC Championship, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 6 in Worcester against the winner of Mass. Maritime and Fitchburg State, to be played tonight at 7 p.m. Bridgewater State concludes their season with an overall record of 8-9-2.
The Bears took the first lead of the game; however, Worcester State responded with back-to-back goals in the first half to lead 2-1 going into the intermission. The Lancers advanced the score to 4-1 in the second half to seal the win. The Lancers outshot their opponents 25-16 throughout the entirety of the game.
Bridgewater reached the scoreboard first nine minutes in when Jameson Bradley (Westborough, Mass.) took control of the ball and sped down the right side of the field into the Bears' offensive zone. Bradley crossed the ball to open Filipe Gomes (Fogo, Cape Verde) who then tapped it into the left side of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Worcester came back one minute later when Bryan Brasil (Williamsburg, Mass.) tripped up a defender and cleared a path for a crossover to the middle where teammate Ipojuca flicked the ball into the goal to knot the score at 1-1.
Worcester's second goal came after a non-direct kick in the 14th minute. Following a scramble inside the box, Ipojuca put a foot on the ball, attempted a shot, which landed at the feet of teammate George Siotis (Oxford, Mass.) who then fired the ball into the back of the net for the Lancers' first lead of the game.
Following the intermission, Worcester State received another free kick that resulted in a goal. The free kick found the head of Dent who then placed the ball further up the field for Ipojuca to pick up off the bounce and line the ball into the back left corner of the net.
With four minutes remaining on the clock, freshman forward Mitzschael Myrthil (Clinton, Mass.) scored a goal on a breakaway, beating Bridgewater defenders and the goalkeeper, for the 4-1 advantage, which proved to be the final score of the game.
Worcester's goalkeeper, Jason Barrett (Spencer, Mass.) registered the win in a five-save performance, while Bridgewater's Nate Morgado (Dartmouth, Mass.) suffered the loss with a six-save performance.