Worcester Clinches MASCAC Championship Hosting With Thrilling Win over Bears

Worcester, MA- After a strong showing from Bridgewater State (14-4, 4-2) versus Salem State on Tuesday night, the fourth seeded Bears travelled to the one seed Worcester State Lancers (11-6, 5-1) for the MASCAC Semifinals. Worcester is hosting the semifinals as the one seed for the first time in program history after claiming wins over Framingham State and Westfield State during the regular season. The Bears came into the game with the surprising slight edge over the Lancers as the Bears dealt Worcester their only conference loss of the season in the conference opener back in March. 

Final

#4 Bridgewater State:14

#1 Worcester State: 19

How it happened:

The Lancers started the game off with a goal 10 seconds into the game from junior Mckayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) to get the scoring started in the outing. Senior Camryn Gonsalves (East Bridgewater, MA) from Bridgewater would reply right away with a goal of their own; however, minutes later, senior Ashley Hurley (Feeding Hills, MA) would get a second goal for the Lancers. Senior Abbie Wing (Griswold, CT) would follow suit and grab a third goal for the Blue and Gold. Fisher would add to her goal tally, increasing the lead to 4-1 for the Lancers. Graduate student Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, NJ) would then find the back of the net for the Bears. Junior Molly Witkowski (Greenville, NY) would convert a free position, and minutes later, Wing would net another to increase the lead to 6-2 for the Lancers. Junior Meredith Sylvia (South Dartmouth, MA) would get the third goal for the Bears. Sophomore Madigan Kelley (Bourn, MA) would be the next Lancer to add a score as the time in the first quarter wound down. Senior Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, MA) would get one final goal for the Lancers in the first quarter, extending the lead to 8-3 going into the second. Erickson would get the scoring started in the second quarter, with Witowski getting another goal minutes later to increase the lead. The Bears would get a goal back from Sylvia 5 minutes into the second. Followed up by a goal from Gonsalves would net her second of the game for the Bears shortly after. Erickson would get 3 straight goals for the Lancers, extending the lead to 13-5 with under 5 minutes to go in the first half. Sophomore Kerry Brown (Billerica, MA) would get one last goal for the Lancers to end the half with the score being 14-5 going into the second half.

The Lancers would start the second half fast, with Witkowski getting a quick goal to start the scoring in the third. Sylvia would get another for the Bears shortly after. Brown would add to the lead soon after that goal. First year Taylor Carter (East Walpole, MA) would then get a seventh goal for the Bears. Witkowski added another in the final 30 seconds of the quarter, making the Lancers' lead 17-7 going into the final quarter of regulation. Erickson would continue her streak, adding another goal to the box score shortly into the fourth quarter. Carter would then get another goal for the Bears to get them to 8 goals. Senior Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, MA) would then get a ninth goal of the game for the Bears. Gonsalves would then go on to score 4 straight goals for the Bears, making the score 18-13 with under 5 minutes to play in the game. Fisher would then net a goal for the Lancers to extend their lead. Gonsalves would get on the final goal for the Bears, but that would be it for the game.

What's Next:

With the win Worcester State (15-4, 5-1) advances to the MASCAC Finals on Saturday at Worcester State with the game time currently set for 11am.