Westfield, MA --- Westfield State freshman Brooke Williams (Wilbraham, MA) and senior Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, MA) both finished with two goals and four helpers each in a balanced scoring attack to help pace the top-seeded Owls to a 15-12 victory over #4 Worcester State in the semifinals of the MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
Westfield State (13-4) moves on to the title game to take on #3 Bridgewater State, who defeated second-seeded Fitchburg State, 19-11, earlier this evening. The Lancers end their season at 13-6, tying their school record for wins in a single campaign.
Junior Blair Smith (Milford, MA) also registered a hat-trick for the Owls while freshman Stephanie Godek (W. Springfield, MA) tallied twice and she notched four draws. Williams collected four draws and junior goalie Mimi Khampaeng (Hamden, MA) picked up five ground balls with two caused turnovers.
The Blue and Gold were propelled by junior Jackie Connors (Ashland, MA) who netted a career-best six goals as she had a game-high seven draws and three ground balls. Sophomore Alaina Martin (E. Longmeadow, MA) recorded two goals with two assists.
Senior Angela Grassetti (Feeding Hills, MA) distinguished herself with five draws, three forced miscues and a pair of ground balls while junior Kaila Chase (Northbridge, MA) had one goal and one assist for her 200th career points and she added as four draw controls.
Lenhardt had a hand in two goals and a helper to help the hosts claim the 5-1 advantage with 20:18 remaining in the opening half.
Worcester State came back with a 5-0 run of their own as they took over the 7-5 lead at the 8:49 mark after a marker by Mackenzie Little (Marlboro, MA). Connors and senior Molly Kilday (Westford, MA) also had two goals each to lead the charge.
After Williams potted an unassisted tally, she found junior Roni Orcutt (Granville, MA) to tie up the game at 7-7 nearly three minutes later.
Chase gave the visitors a temporary one goal advantage as 3:30 read on the clock, but junior Samantha Lungarini (Agawam, MA) scored 58 seconds later and sophomore Caroline Smart (Weymouth, MA) connected on a free position shot in the waning moments of the frame for the 9-8 edge at the intermission.
The Owls slowly built up their margin with a 6-2 spurt over the first 20 minutes of the second period for the 15-10 advantage.
Connors found the back of the net twice over a five minute stretch with under 10:00 on the clock, but that was all the offense the Lancers could muster the rest of the way. Khampaeng also had a key save with 2:02 to go on an eight-meter attempt by Kilday.
Khampaeng (13-3) saved 13 of the 25 shots she saw on net while sophomore Lea Robichaud (Holden, MA) turned aside five attempts on net. Robichaud fell to 13-5 in the loss.
Worcester State actually led in shots (31-27), draws (15-11) and ground balls (17-13), however, they were 0-for-5 from the free position line.
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