After winning their semifinal contests on Friday night, the Bridgewater State Bears and Worcester State Lancers advance to the 2022 MASCAC Men's Soccer title game on Sunday.

#4 Bridgewater State 1, #1 Framingham State 1    5-4 PKs Away   Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University advanced to the championship game of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Soccer Tournament as the fourth-seeded Bears stunned top-seeded Framingham State University on penalty kicks (5-4) in the tournament semifinal round on Friday night at Maple Street Field. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and two overtime periods.

In the penalty kick session, both teams converted on their first four attempts with senior forward Robson Montrond (Brockton, Mass.), sophomore midfielders Nicolas Matias (Milford, Mass.) and Carsten Boloz (Southborough, Mass.), and freshman midfielder Gavin Norton (Rockland, Mass.) each finding the back of the net for Bridgewater State. After senior netminder William Russell (Sandwich, Mass.) came up with a clutch stop on Framingham's fifth attempt, BSU junior midfielder Ethan DeMelo (Acushnet, Mass.) sent the Bears to the championship game.

The Bears (7-8-3) will be making their first appearance in the MASCAC title game since 2018 and ninth overall. The Rams end the season with an overall record of 11-5-3.

Graduate midfielder Bryce Nardizzi (Framingham, Mass.) converted on a penalty kick in the 12th minute to give the hosts the early 1-0 lead. The Rams were awarded the PK after the referee called a handball inside the 18. For Nardizzi, the goal marked his MASCAC-leading 15th of the season.

The Bears knotted the score at 1-1 in the 19th minute as sophomore midfielder Ethan Lafontant (Chelmsford, Mass.) potted his first goal of the season. Norton set up the strike with a long volley inside the six. Boloz deflected the ball back to the middle to an unguarded Lafontant who buried a shot into the wide open net.

The Bears outshot the Rams 10-7 over the first 45 minutes.

The two teams played through a scoreless second half with the Rams holding a 15-7 shot advantage in the session. Russell made eight clutch saves in the second stanza to help send the game into overtime with the score knotted at 1-1.

There were no shots on frame in the first overtime period, and each keeper turned aside one shot in a scoreless second session as the game headed to penalty kicks.

Framingham held a 25-17 shot advantage for the game as well as an 8-2 edge in corner kick attempts. The Rams had the only corner kick attempt in overtime.

Russell finished with 11 saves on the evening, while senior netminder Jake Hartshorn (Chelmsford, Mass.) turned aside ten shots between the pipes for the Rams.

#3 Worcester State 1, #2 Salem State 0   Box Score

Worcester, MA - The Lancers hit the road to the O'Keefe Sports Complex in Salem to take on the #2 seed Vikings in a hard fought MASCAC semifinal battle Friday evening. The only goal in the game scored by Sophomore midfielder Waseem Mahmoud (Northboro, MA) sealed the victory for Worcester as they eliminated the defending champions and punched their ticket to the MASCAC Championship for the first time since 2016. 

FINAL SCORE: Worcester 1, Salem 0

SCORING PLAYS:

62:16 - Worcester | Waseem Mahmoud (2), assisted by Taylor Gavaletz (3)

Worcester's first & game-winning strike came in the 62nd minute with a pass from first-year Midfielder Taylor Gavaletz (Dudley, MA) that connected in the middle of the box to Mahmoud to give the Lancers the lead. This was Hawkins' second goal of the 2022 campaign, while Gavaletz recorded his third assist. 

Lancer keeper Andy Ramirez (Waltham, MA) played the full 90 minutes and recorded five saves off five shots on goal, while Salem's Matt Hauntsman saved one shot of two a diving save seven minutes into the second half to keep the game at 0-0. 

The Vikings did not give up, with promising shots to the net to try to level the game. Ramirez came through to help the Lancers hold onto their lead as the clock winded down. 

The Blue & Gold are back home this Sunday as they will meet once again with the #4 seed Bridgewater State Bears in the 2022 MASCAC Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. 

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and Worcester State Sports Information