Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (7-7, 3-1) travel north of Boston to take on the Salem State Vikings (4-9, 1-3) for a MASCAC matchup. With two games remaining in the season after today, the Lancers will try to stay at the top of the conference standings. 

Pregame Notes:

The Lancers enter play third in MASCAC standings trailing Westfield State, who the Lancers were just defeated by a score of 18-7, while also trailing Framingham State who came in today at 3-0 in the conference. Worcester will travel to Framingham St. for a potential seeding-deciding matchup after their bout with Salem.

Graduate student attacker Clare Conway (Billerica, MA) comes into today's game fourth in the MASCAC in goals (38), fifth in points (51), and fifth in shots (83). Her teammate, senior attacker Shea Jarvis (Auburn, MA) is third in shots in the conference (85) with 28 goals on the season. Jarvis is the second leading point-getter on the Lancers (44). Sophomore attacker Ashley Hurley (Feeding Hills, MA) enters today fourth in assists in the conference (17). Senior goalie Savanna Rosado (Milford, MA) is third in the MASCAC in save percentage (49.6%) while also being second in saves (138). First-year standout attacker Mckayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) leads the conference in caused turnovers (30) and is second in ground balls (47) with her teammate senior midfielder Lily Gendron (Milford, MA) right behind her (38).

Game Highlights:

Rosado and the Lancer defense were spectacular this game along with the Lancer offense. Rosado saved four shots off of twelve attempts from the Vikings. This was the third-lowest score Worcester has held an opponent to this season. In an offensive explosion, the goal scoring would match the third-highest of the season. Jarvis led all scorers (5), followed by Conway (4), Gendron (3), and Pavoni (3). Ryan was the assist leader today (3) as Fisher was right behind her (2).  

RECAP:

FINAL- Lancers 19, Salem St. 5 

First Quarter:

Fresh off of a bad loss to Westfield State, the Lancers came out flying in this one. It seemed like every possession they had led to a goal. Four goals were scored in the first seven minutes of the contest, each by different players. Gendron, Jarvis, Hurley, and Conway were a force with their speed and athleticism as they each were able to penetrate the Vikings defense and force an early timeout by Salem. The Vikings got one back with Taylor Sujko scoring making it 4-1. Conway followed with her strength and physicality in front of the net and would pick up a second goal in the quarter with 7:15 remaining in the first making it 5-1. First-year midfielder Cailey Ryan (Acton, MA) and senior attacker Emily Pavoni (Granby, MA) added to Worcester's total to make it 7-2 as the Viking's Aislinn Bennet added one for the home team. Gendron and Jarvis both got their second goal of the quarter, giving Worcester the 9-2 lead to end the quarter.

Second Quarter:

Jarvis opened the scoring in the second quarter to make the score 10-2 with Salem State's Kaia Hollingsworth squeaking one by to make it 10-3. Conway wanted her hat trick in this one and looked to climb the MASCAC goal scorer leaders as she scored making it 11-3. Jarvis got her third with a running goal at the goalie and fired one into the net, the score now 12-3. It wouldn't take long for her to get her fourth to make it 13-3 with around seven minutes left in the second. Gendron made it 14-3 while adding herself to the hat trick party alongside Jarvis and Conway. Conway looked to join her teammate Jarvis and her four-goal scoring game with another goal of her own bringing the score to 15-3 with around three minutes remaining before the half. First-year attacker Molly Witkowski (Port Jervis, NY) closed the first half by scoring her first of the game with seconds remaining before the buzzer bringing the score to 16-3.

Third Quarter:

Salem State got it started with a goal from Mckenzie Schmink, the score now 16-4. Pavoni went from the left side of the goal to the right and got one by the keeper, making it look easy and giving one back to Worcester with a score of 17-4 and making it her second of the night. Hollingworth scored for her second with 6 minutes remaining to cut the Lancer's lead to 17-5. Shea Jarvis on a mission tonight made it 18-5 on her fifth goal of the matchup to end the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter:

Pavoni saw some of her teammates with three-goal games and wanted in on it with her third to start the fourth and bringing the score to 19-5. That was the only score of the fourth ending the game with a final of 19-5.  

The Lancers improve to (8-7, 4-1), with the Vikings falling to (4-10, 1-4). Worcester once again will be on the road for their next matchup against the Framingham State Rams (8-5, 3-0) for their second to last regular season game on Tuesday, April 25. The Rams have three of the top five goal scorers and three of the top six players in points in the MASCAC rankings. It won't be easy, but the Lancers will be ready for the challenge.