Worcester, MA- For the second time in three nights, John F. Coughlin Memorial Field at Worcester State University was the setting for an early-evening playoff contest, as the second-seeded Lancers played host to the third-seeded Spartans of Castleton University in the second-round of the Little East Conference Tournament. Worcester State was able to come away with the road win during the regular-season matchup between the Spartans and Lancers back on Oct.11. History did not repeat itself as the Spartans were able to get revenge on their regular season loss by demonstrating incredible focus in their 3-0 victory.
Early on in the contest, it was clear that Castleton came out with a plan to try and stretch the defense with long passes that got behind the Worcester State defense, but could not convert on the scoreboard, which included a corner shot opportunity by Castleton's Kaitlin Barsellini (Northfield, NH) that went rang off the post. Worcester State had some great chances to find the back of the net when Karalyn Jones (Wilbraham, Massachusetts) shot was saved by goalie Zoe Martin (Haverhill, Massachusetts), who was able to swat away a corner chance to keep the game at 0-0. A minute later Martin made a leaping save to keep the Worcester State Crowd from erupting in celebration.
The score remained 0-0 going into the second period. Both teams had scoring chances early but could not find the back of the net thanks to stellar play by goalies Martin and Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Massachusetts). Castleton had a corner chance with 2:51 remaining but a well-defended Worcester State cage prevented the shot. With under a minute remaining in the first half, Ferra made two incredible saves on back-to-back attempts to keep the game at 0-0 heading into halftime.
The story of the start of the third quarter, just like the previous two, was the dynamic play by the goaltenders. Ferra's focus was still on point as she made two big saves to prevent the Spartans from gaining the upper hand. Then a couple of minutes after the halfway point of the third quarter Moses was able to make a diving save off a Worcester State corner attempt that kept the game deadlocked. A corner by Castleton with ten seconds left proved successful as Emily Harris (Crondall, England) found the back of the net to give her team a 1-0 lead with 3 seconds left.
Castleton was able to keep the momentum on their side as Bardellini was able to score with a little over 13 minutes left to extend the Spartan lead to 2-0 lead. Worcester State tried to pressure Martin and find a gap, but could not find the back of the goal. Late in the game, Castleton was able to defend their goal and in transaction, Bardellini was able to score her second of the game with 11 seconds to set the final score of 3-0 score and clinch the Spartans place In the Little East Conference Championship Game.
With the victory, the Spartans move on to the championship game where they will face the winner of Keene State and Southern Maine on Saturday. Worcester State finishes with an overall record of 15-7 and a 10-3 conference record.