Lancers Advance To Conference Semifinals On Earnest Header In OT

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (5-8-2, 5-2 MASCAC) open up tournament play against the Mass. Maritime Buccaneers (2-8-5, 1-4-2 MASCAC) at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field for the MASCAC quarterfinals matchup.

In their only regular season matchup, which saw the two teams face off just last Friday, Worcester State defeated the Bucs by a score of 5-0.

FINAL:

Lancers: 1

Mass. Maritime: 0 

RECAP:

First Half:

The first half of this playoff matchup saw a back-and-forth between the two teams with no goals scored in the opening 45 minutes of action. It was a solid defensive effort from both sides to keep the score 0-0 heading into the second half. 

First Year defender Jessica Forbes (Clinton, Mass.) was booked with a yellow card 28' into the contest on a battle for a header at midfield in what would prove to be a hotly contested battle in the MASCAC Quarterfinal.

The Lancers ended the half with seven shots on goal while Mass. Maritime was able to connect for two shots. Worcester State's first-year forward Ava Lemanski (Clinton, MA) and sophomore midfielder Erin Condon (East Bridgewater, MA) both fired two shots on goal in bids to break the scoreless stalemate.

Buccaneers senior midfielder Ally Reddish (Canton, MA) footed two shots for Mass. Maritime in the first 45' of play.

Junior goalkeeper Reagan Kerecz (Tolland, CT) recorded seven saves for the Bucs. Lancer freshman goalkeeper Ella Gumienny (Douglas, MA) had two saves for her side.

Second Half:

The Lancers started off the second half with multiple runs on goal, but the Mass. Maritime defense held their own shutting down anything that came their way early in the second half. 

Condon attempted her third shot of the game 14 minutes into the half from 20 yards out that was impressively stopped by Kerecz to keep the game scoreless. 

Senior midfielder Olivia Magierowski (Brimfield, MA) crossed in a corner kick that nearly bent into the net but was once again stopped by Kerecz. 

First-year forward Lucy Watson (Blackstone, MA) fired a powerful shot with distance on goal shortly after but was not able to break the tie as Kerecz made a leaping save.

Watson stepped in to take a corner with 13' remaining that nearly trickled in after a scrum in front of the net that eventually found Kerecz's hands for her 18th save of the afternoon. 

Junior midfielder Abby MacDonald (Lancaster, MA) took the ball from the half line and made an incredible run into the box where she crossed a ball into the box and was once again found by the keeper Kerecz on her mark, securing her 23rd save of the night. 

With no score, both teams head into overtime to decide the winner.

Overtime:

Six minutes into the first OT, Worcester was awarded a corner where first year Lucy Watson delivered a ball that found first-year defender Julianne Earnest (Columbia, CT) who headed the ball past Kerecz to bring her squad closer to advancing. The remaining overtime period saw Worcester working the Buccaneer defense in a bid to get an insurance goal until the final two minutes of the second overtime saw the Lancers drop the ball into the corner for a possession stall to claim the 1-0 victory.

With the loss, the Mass Maritime defense backs senior Abigail Lelievre (Littleton, MA), sophomore midfielder Matilda Laux (Arlington, MA), and junior Lindsy Durgin (Rochester, MA) played a great game to stop the Lancer offensive attack and stifling their offensive momentum from four days ago.

Reagan Kerecz played a great game in net, totaling 25 saves in the cage.

With the win, the Lancers advance and travel to the MASCAC semifinals to face Westfield St. on Friday, November 3rd at 12 p.m.