MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Bracket
Fitchburg, MA --- Sophomore Jackie Connors (Ashland, MA) finished with nine points on five goals and four assists to help lead Worcester State to a 14-9 triumph over Fitchburg State on the final weekend of MASCAC women's lacrosse regular season play at Elliot Field.
The Lancers (11-3, 5-1 MASCAC) have claimed the second seed and bye in next week's conference tournament. The Blue and Gold take on the winner of Tuesday's matchup between #3 Westfield State and #6 Framingham State on Thursday at 7 PM at home.
The Falcons (8-8, 3-3 MASCAC) entertain #5 Salem State on Tuesday in a 7 o'clock matchup in the league tournament quarterfinals.
Sophomore Kaila Chase (Northbridge, MA) also added a hat-trick with one assist while junior Jackie Lawlor (Westford, MA) distinguished herself defensively with five ground balls and a trio of forced miscues. Junior Molly Kilday (Westford, MA) potted a pair of tallies and she picked up five ground balls.
Connors and freshman Angelina Sutherland (Tyngsboro, MA) both corralled five draw controls to help the Blue and Gold lead the category (15-10) as Connors also chipped in with a trio of ground balls and three caused turnovers on the back line.
Freshman Ali Laferriere (Tyngsboro, MA) paced Fitchburg State with five second half goals and she registered six draws and a trifecta of ground balls.
Senior Markie Apple (Pittsfield, MA) tallied twice and first-year Andrea Comeau (Watertown, MA) had a fine defensive effort with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
With the game tied up 1-1 just 10 minutes into the contest, the Lancers utilized a 7-1 run to close out the period for the commanding 8-2 margin at the break.
Connors sparked the skein with her second tally of the game at the 16:45 mark while junior Angela Grassetti (Agawam, MA) notched three points in the run with two helpers and Kilday found the back of the net twice for the visitors.
Worcester State built up their margin by doubling up their opponents 4-2 over the first 20 minutes of the second frame to open up a 12-4 advantage with 10:09 remaining.
The Falcons, however, came back with a vengeance as Laferriere recorded four of the contests next five goals to help Fitchburg State trail 13-8 with 3:05 on the clock.
Chase though gave the Lancers a lift to help secure the win as she potted a marker with 60 ticks left on the clock.
Freshman Lea Robichaud (Holden, MA) improved her record to 11-3 by turning aside six of the 11 shots she saw between the pipes in 52:05 minutes of action. Sophomore Elizabeth Darringo (Billerica, MA) collected 13 stops between the pipes as her mark moves to 8-8 on the campaign.
The Lancers led in overall shots (33-27), attempts on goal (27-15) and ground balls (29-24) as the visitors were 0-for-3 from the eight-meter line. The hosts were 2-for-3 on their free position bids.
With her season high in points, Connors moves into third place on WSU's all-time scoring list with 89 goals and 62 assists for 151 for her career to leapfrog former standout Brittany Jaimeson (2007-10).
Grassetti moved into a tie with Kim Massa (2005-06) for 15th place.
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