Lancers Unable to Overcome Hot Owl Start as they Drop First MASCAC Battle to Westfield

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (7-6) hosted the Westfield State Owls (8-5) today at John Coughlin Field. 

Both teams, undefeated in the MASCAC, looked to clash on what was expected to be a tough game. Within the first minute of the whistle being blown to start the game, the Owls took advantage of the draw and scored quickly for the first goal of the game.

The Lancers fought back, however, and added a score to the board when first year McKayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) maneuvered through the Westfield State defense to tie up the game. Throughout the rest of the quarter, the Owls would clamp down on defense and energize their offense to go on a scoring craze. They would go on to score ten unanswered goals with only one of these goals being accompanied by an assist. 

Westfield State's Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, MA) would be the cause of half of those Owl goals, with a total of five by the end of the quarter. With roughly 30 seconds to go before the start of the second quarter, first year Cailey Ryan (Acton, MA) found senior Shea Jarvis (Auburn, MA) for the assist and score to give the Lancers two scores.

To begin the second quarter, Fisher let Westfield know the Lancers weren't quite out of the game yet when she scored her second goal of the game, again without an assist. Worcester would go on to show a more lockdown performance against the Owls, letting only four goals in for the rest of the quarter, compared to the ten let up in the last. 

HALFTIME: WSU 3, Westfield 15

The third quarter for both the Lancers and Owls was very quiet compared to the first half, with the Owls sharing a pair of goals between their teammates before Worcester's own sophomore Abigail Wing (Griswold, Conn.) increased the score to 4 on a solo shoot-and-score. Moments later graduate student Clare Conway (Billerica, MA) scored her first goal of the game to increase the Lancer's total to 5. This is Conway's thirty-eighth goal of the season, continuing her impressive resume and play. With seconds to go before the clock expired, the Owls took advantage of the time and scored their seventeenth goal of the game to send both teams into the final quarter.

After a slow start on offense to begin the fourth quarter, Jarvis scored to increase the Lancer total to 6 after a shifty maneuver around the Owls' defense. She was joined moments later by Fisher who went and scored her third goal of the game to give the Lancers yet another goal.

Senior Savanna Rosado (Milford, MA) had a total of twelve saves on the day for the Lancers. Worcester State prepares to travel to take on the Salem St. Vikings (4-9) on April 21st @ 7PM. Worcester State now sits at 7-7, 3-1 in the MASCAC, on the season with three games left to go. 

FINAL: WSU 7, Westfield St. 18