Worcester, MA- The Worcester State women's soccer team ended their remarkable season Friday night in the MASCAC semifinal against #1 seed Westfield State.
Worcester knew they were the underdogs going into the game, with the last matchup vs Westfield ending in a 3-2 loss, but they did not play that way. With both teams set on a win it was a back and forth battle. The first half found the Lancers a little hectic distributing the ball which resulted in limited possession for Worcester. Delaney Parker scored the first goal of the game for Westfield in the 10th minute. The Lancers seemed to be on the bad side of the officiating as they received foul after foul for tackles and were not awarded free kicks that appeared to fall in their favor. In the 35th minute Kiki McNary found the back of the net again for the Owls. Lancer first year goalkeeper Mallory Dupuis made some imperative saves to keep the score at 2-0 through the first half.
The Lancers put together their best scoring chance of the first half in the closing seconds of the frame when senior forward Hailey Mignon (Tewksbury, Mass.) teed up a shot from the top of the box which rang the crossbar and bounced over the net as the Owls managed to preserve a two-goal advantage heading into the break.
The Lancers continued fighting for the win and brought back their composure for the second half. In the second half, the Owls' defense strung together a pair of key defensive saves to keep Worcester off the scoreboard inside the 66th minute. After beating a sliding Lauryn Davis (Templeton, Mass.) at the top of the box, Mignon corralled the ball before firing a shot towards the net where Katie Slattery (Wilbraham, Mass.) swooped in from behind and knocked the ball out of danger.
On the ensuing corner kick, Hailey Skowronski (Holliston, Mass.) chipped a perfect ball into the center of the box for Mignon who headed the ball to the back post where Emily Ottomaniello (Agawam, Mass.) was able to kick away another prime scoring chance from Worcester.
Shots were almost equal for the two teams, with 12 for Westfield and 11 for Worcester. Seniors Mignon, Haley Samara and Skowronski all had incredible footwork to challenge the Owls' defense and contest for a goal. Allie Marrier, Cammi Arnold, and Kristen Beidleman all had fantastic first touches and kept Westfield's strikers at bay even through injuries. Worcester truly left everything on the field, but unfortunately were unable to score.
Big shoutout to all seven Worcester State seniors for great leadership and encouragement all season and their rock solid play all season. They set the tone on the season and lead a solid run in playoffs, leaving behind a legacy to be proud of and exciting to see what ground work they have left for the future.