WORCESTER, Mass. – The Colonials of Western Connecticut State University edged the Worcester State Lancers 3-2 in a non-conference matchup Wednesday evening at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field.

Western Connecticut started off with a riot, as the ball was mostly possessed by them. Within the first five minutes of play, the Colonials had three corner kick opportunities, but were only able to get one shot off (header) by senior defender, Rebecca Rivera (Monroe, Conn.) aimed right at Worcester State's keeper, Jillian Witkowski (Leicester, Mass.) for her first save of the night.

It wasn't until the 17^th minute that the rally began between the two teams. Worcester State's sophomore defender Justine Butler (Marlboro, Mass.) paced the game, as she had a stunning header off a corner kick from freshman midfielder Nikki DiPilla (Sterling, Mass.) on the Lancers' third corner kick opportunity of the match.

Within seconds of the kickoff from the first goal, Western Connecticut's sophomore Autumn Sorice (Bethel, Conn.) passed the ball forward to sophomore Samantha Carbonell (Berlin, Conn.) who was sprinting down the field only to beat the Worcester State defensive line, and ended up scoring a goal to tie the game at one.

The score remained tied at halftime, but didn't stay tied long as Western Connecticut batted off their second goal of the night within 17 seconds of play in the second half. The ball was brought down into the Lancers' end from the halftime kickoff and Carbonell crossed a perfect ball over to sophomore Andrea DeVoe (Farmington, Conn.)  who then fired the ball past Worcester State's keeper.

The Lancers tied the score up at two in the 57^th minute when Worcester State had a throw-in on the left side of the field and junior forward Kendal Bergenholtz (Grafton, Mass.) crossed the ball from the left side, from where freshman Tsara LeBlanc (Gardner, Mass.) shot from the right side, placing the ball high and right into the net.

The battle continued, until the deciding goal occurred in the 87^th minute when a dangerous ball was crossed in front of the Worcester State defensive end.  The Lancers defensive line went to push the ball out of the box, but a mishap occurred and DeVoe was right in front of an open goal with the ball at her foot. DeVoe then placed the ball into the goal for the game winning shot.

Western Connecticut's sophomore goalkeeper, Jillian Fernandez (Columbia, Conn.), recorded the win as she improves to 6-3-1 on the season. Fernandez notched up one save in the full regulation. Witkowski (4-3-2) took the loss as she recorded six saves in the 90 minutes of play.

Western Connecticut had an 18-3 shot advantage over the Lancers, while also overpowering them in corner kick opportunities by 50 percent (10-5).

With the win the Colonials improve to 6-3-1 on the season, while the Blue and Gold drop to 4-3-2.

Next up the Colonials will face Rhode Island College on the road in conference play with a 1:00 p.m. start time. The Lancers will also be on the road, as they will square up with Fitchburg State this weekend for the Sterling Cup at 10:00 a.m.