Lancers Come from Behind to Clip the Owls to Advance to Semis

Worcester, MA- 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 seventh-seeded Owls of Westfield State University in the opening-round of Little East Conference Tournament. Worcester State was able to come away with the win during the regular-season matchup between the Owls and Lancers back on Sept. 27, who would once again come out on top in a real nail biter of a game, defeating Westfield State in comeback fashion by a score of 3-2. 

The underdog Owls got off to a hot start with a goal off the stick of sophomore Taylor Creech (Kennebunk, Maine) just a couple of minutes into the action. The goal came on a perfect assist from junior Skyla Harthcock (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) across the goal mouth creating a wide-open target for Creech to hit. The Lancers would get a chance to pull even with 7:16 remaining in the opening quarter on a penalty corner, only to see the shot get blocked by the defense. Less than two minutes later Worcester State would capitalize on an opportunity created by a corner. While the corner itself didn't result in a goal, the Lancers were awarded a stroke that senior Karalyn Jones (Wilbraham, Mass.) took complete advantage of. She laced her shot into the top left corner of the net, tying up the game at a score of 1-1. 

The score remained at one a piece heading into the second quarter. Much of the excitement in the second came in an action packed final minute. With just 58 seconds to go, the Lancers got a great opportunity to pull ahead on a penalty corner, but a mishandled ball resulted in a turnover that saw the Owls quickly flip the field. Lancer goalie, sophomore Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Mass.) made a sliding stop on a Westfield breakaway with a half-minute left that momentarily kept the score tied. Just seconds later the Owls regained their lead when a corner inserted by Skyla Harthcock found junior Morgan Wichmann (Grandby Conn.) at the top of the circle who sniped the long range shot into the back of the net. 

The third quarter started and ended with the score of 2-1, despite Worcester State having ample opportunities to pull even. Missed corners by the Lancers and great goalkeeping by Westfield State keeper junior Paige Reiseman (Milford, Mass.) told the tale of the third. Worcester State had five penalty corner chances and were unable to get any of them to go. And Reiseman was up to every challenge that came her way, of which there were many. Two diving saves capitalized a fantastic quarter from the junior that kept her team in the lead. 

The consistent corners kept coming the Lancer's way at the start of the fourth quarter, with three such chances coming in the first four minutes. Finally, on the third penalty corner of the young quarter, Worcester State broke through. Karalyn Jones found fellow senior Molly Cutting (Auburn, Mass.) who tipped the ball over Reiseman to tie the game up at 2-2 with 11:56 to go in the game. Just minutes later, the Lancers demonstrated fantastic passing along the sideline as they efficiently moved the ball from midfield all the way to the corner, where sophomore Natalya Morin (Barre, Mass.) finished the job by dribbling the ball right in on net and past the final line of Owl defense to put the Lancers on top, 3-2. The Lancers defense held strong the remainder of the evening, maintaining their one-goal lead up until the final horn blew.

With the victory, the Lancers will move on to the second round where they will play host to Castleton University at 6:00 p.m. this Thursday night. The Lancers defeated Castleton 4-2 on the road earlier this season. Westfield State finishes their season with a 10-9 record, 7-5 in the Little East.