Colleges: Area teams prepare for NCAA Tournament games

By Jen Toland, College Beat Writer

November 12, 2014

Nichols sophomore midfielder Ian Miller was sitting on the bench, and getting a little bit cold, when overtime began in Sunday's Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament final.

When one of his teammates cramped up and had to leave the game midway through the extra session, Miller had to warm up in a hurry.

"It was pretty nerve wracking," said Miller, a Shrewsbury resident. "I hadn't been in and you have to get adjusted to the speed of the game. It didn't take too long."

In the second overtime, Miller split the defense and fired a shot from 30 yards out into the lower left corner of the net. His third goal of the season lifted the Bison to a 2-1 win over Gordon, the CCC title and an automatic NCAA Division III Tournament berth.

Nichols (14-2-4) will host UMass-Boston in a first-round game at 1PM Thursday at Vendetti Field.

The Bison are one of four local soccer teams that will be playing in the NCAA Division III Tournament this week.

The Fitchburg State men (11-10), who won the MASCAC tourney, will face Amherst at 1:30 PM Saturday at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.

The Worcester State women, who won their MASCAC tournament, will play Nazareth at 11 a.m. Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.

The Assumption women (15-4-1), who won the regular-season Northeast-10 Conference title and fell to St. Rose in the tourney championship, received an NCAA Division II at-large bid and will face LIU Post at noon Friday at St. Rose in Albany, New York.

Kiley Hardy and Justine Butler had a little rivalry of the Midland League B variety going back to when Hardy was playing offense for Groton-Dunstable and Butler was playing defense for Marlboro.

"I remember Justine was difficult," Hardy said. "I definitely would rather have her on my team than against me."

Hardy, a junior, and Butler, a freshman, joined forces as Worcester State center backs this season and their efforts helped the Lancers to their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.

"It's pretty awesome," Hardy said.

Hardy and Butler lead a Worcester State defense that allowed the fewest goals (16) in the conference. Butler was named the MASCAC Rookie of the Year.

The pair plays in front of junior netminder Jillian Witkowski of Leicester, who takes a 0.94 goals-against average and .837 save percentage into the NCAAs.

"A few times this season we've both turned around and thought, 'Uh-oh, that's going in,' and she's just there," Butler said. "It's awesome being in front of her."

The Lancers (14-3-1) are unbeaten in their last seven games. Witkowski has three shutouts in that span.

Junior forward Alicia Macomber scored all three Worcester State goals in the Lancers' two MASCAC tourney wins. She set program records this season with 18 goals and 42 points.

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