Worcester State Women's Lacrosse Claims First MASCAC Championship

Worcester, MA- For the first time ever the Worcester State Women's Lacrosse Team (12-6, 5-1) hosted the MASCAC Championship. Coming into the game as the one seed, the Lancers defeated fourth seeded Bridgewater State 19-14 to advance to the Championship. The third seeded Framingham State Rams (10-8, 4-2) upset the second seeded Westfield State Owls in overtime 9-8 to place themselves in the position of a potential bid to the NCAA tournament.

Final

#3 Framingham State: 11

#1 Worcester State: 13

How it Happened:

The game started out with senior Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, MA) getting the first goal for the Lancers to open the quarter. Shortly after, senior Maggie Grout (West Springfield, MA) from the Rams would equalize. The Rams would capitalize on a free position attempt, and first-year Madeline Bosma (Orange, CT) would put the ball in the back of the net to give the Rams the lead after 5 minutes. Next, junior Mckayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) from the Lancers would convert a free position of her own to get the game back even. Next, senior Molly Lenier (Tyngsboro, MA) would find the back of the net to put the Rams back up by one. Erickson would net a free position for the Lancers to get the game equalized with just under 6:00 minutes to go in the first. Junior Abigail Vincent (Lakeville, MA) would find the back of the net to put the Lancers up by a goal with 4 minutes to go. Sophomore Madigan Kelley (Bourne, MA) would then get a quick goal right after to add to the Lancers' lead. Senior Leah Green (Chelmsford, MA) from the Rams would convert a free position to end the first period, with the Lancers up 5-4 going into the second quarter.

The Lancers would be the first to get on the scoreboard in the second quarter, with Erickson getting her third goal of the game. Bosma would then get the next goal for the Rams, putting them within one score. Fisher would then answer back right away to put the Lancers back up by 2 goals with just under 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. Next, first-year Emma Kendzulak (Windham, CT) would get a goal for the Rams, putting them back within one. Erickson would then get her fourth goal of the game to put the Lancers back up by 2 goals. Grout would then answer for the Rams shortly after putting them back within one goal. The first half would end with the Lancers leading 8-7 going into the third quarter. 

The Lancers would get on the board first in the second half, with junior Molly Witkowski (Greenville, MA) getting to the back of the net twice to open the quarter extending the lead to 10-7 early on in the second half. Erickson would then get her fifth goal of the game to extend the lead to four goals for the Lancers with 10 minutes to go in the quarter. Lanier would get her second goal of the game to put the Rams on the board this quarter. Senior Hailey Baker (Peabody, MA) would then get a ninth goal for the Rams, inching them closer to a tie game. Kendzulak would convert a free possession to get the Rams within a goal with under 2 minutes to go in the quarter. The Lancers would lead the Rams 11-10 going into the fourth quarter. 

Worcester would find the back of the net first in the fourth quarter with Witkowski getting her second goal of the game. Senior Abbie Wing (Griswold, CT) would get her first goal of the game to extend the lead to three goals for the Lancers with 5 minutes to go in regulation. Senior Leah Green (Chelmsford, MA) would get a goal back for the Rams with 2 minutes to go in the game. The Lancers would go on to hold the ball as time wound down to win the game 13-11 and secure the championship.

What's Next:

With the victory Lancers will now await their NCAA tournament fate on Monday May 5th at 10:30am as they claim the MASCAC's automatic bid to the Championship Tournament.