Bridgewater State and Worcester State Set to Meet in MASCAC Women's Soccer Tournament Title Game
The Bridgewater State Bears and Worcester State Lancers are set to meet for a chance at the MASCAC Women's Soccer Tournament Title after winning their respective semifinals contests on Friday night.
The Bridgewater State Bears and Worcester State Lancers are set to meet for a chance at the MASCAC Women's Soccer Tournament Title after winning their respective semifinals contests on Friday night.
#1 Worcester State 1, #4 Framingham State 0 Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's Nikki DiPilla (Sterling, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute to give the Lancers a 1-0 win over the No. 4 seeded Framingham State Rams in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament semifinal game Friday (Nov. 4) evening at John F. Coughlin Field.
With the win, the Lancers (8-6-2) advance to the MASCAC tournament championship, to be hosted on Sunday (Nov. 6) at 2 p.m. in Worcester against the winner of a Westfield/Bridgewater State semifinal game. Framingham State's season saw an end tonight as they conclude the 2016 campaign with an 8-11 record.
The game saw an uneventful first half as only four shots were registered on goal (three Framingham State, one Worcester State) and the Rams held the shot advantage 8-to-4.
The second half was a battle between both teams, until the Lancers took the lead with 11 minutes remaining. Worcester State's Nicole Parenteau (Chicopee, Mass.) booted the ball up the field for Worcester's freshman Morgan Goozey (Douglas, Mass.) to get a hold of. Goozey slid the ball across the goal box for DiPilla to put a foot on and place it in the net, proving to be the game-winner.
Framingham State saw one shot on goal from Erin Angelillo (Southington, Conn.) in the last minute of play. However, the shot was saved by Worcester's keeper Vanessa O'Donnell (Worcester, Mass.).
O'Donnell recorded her seventh shutout of the season in a six-save performance and still holds a 0.00 goals against average against conference opponents. The Rams' Keyonzia Gagne-Lamoureux (E. Brookfield, Mass.) suffered the loss and stopped five of six Lancers shots on goal.
#3 Bridgewater State 1, #2 Westfield State 1 (PKs BSU wins 3-1) Box Score
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the year Lauren DeSousa (Coyle and Cassidt/Taunton, Mass.) made three saves in the penalty kick shootout and Kaitlyn Bongarzone (Mansfield, Mass.) converted the decisive penalty kick as third-seeded Bridgewater State upset Westfield State 3-1 in the shootout after a 1-1 overtime draw in the setts MASCAC women's soccer semifinals at Alumni Field on Friday night.
The penalty kick shotout advanced Bridgewater (7-5-6) to Sunday's conference championship game to play top seeded Worcester State (a 1-0 winner over #4 Framingham in the other semifinal) in Worcester on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Westfield got on the board first in the game as senior Taylor Grijalva (Exeter/Stratham, N.H.) slotted a long thru ball to freshman Bella Eduardo (Chicopee/Springfield, Mass.). Eduardo ran past Bridgewater's back line and beat DeSousa to the left side of the net with 18 minutes left in the first half.
The Bears finally tied the game in the 61st minute, as Amanda Leite (Greater New Bedford Voc/new Bedford, Mass.) served a ball from the right corner that was headed on by Taylor Loyd (Silver Lake/ Halifax, Mass.), and found Tess Nagle (Pembroke, Mass.) at the back post to volley the equalizing goal.
Westfield generated a couple of scoring chances late, with Nicole Chretien (N.Attleboro, Mass.) getting a blast off oin transition that DeSousa saved in the 70th minute, then Marissa McGue (North Quincy/Quincy, Mass.) had another shot that DeSousa stopped off an ensuing corner kick.
Bridgewater had one golden opportunity in the 82nd minute as Madeline McNamara (Hull, Mass.) got a step behind a pair of Owls defenders but was only able to get a weak shot off that the Owls' Natalia Falcone (Sutton, Mass.) saved.
A minute and a half into the first overtime, Westfield crossed a ball that looked like a a Bridgewater defender played with a handball in the box, but the official signaled for a play on and Westfield's Shannon McCleary (North quincy/Quincy, Mass.) fired a shot high over the crossbar on the ensuing play.
Later in the first OT, Bridgewater's Alana Vincent (Taunton, Mass.) won a loose ball in the 6 yard box, but Owls' defender Kenzie Saltmarsh (Westfield, Mass.) quickly challenged to take the ball away before a shot could be taken.
The Bears had the better of the run of play in overtime, with several good serves into the penalty area, but never mustered a truly dangerous scoring try.
In the shootout, Bridgewater's Courtney Pepin (Uxbridge, Mass.) scored on the first PK, but then Westfield's Caitlin MacGregor's (Minnechaug/Hampden, Mass.) shot was saved by DeSousa, the Bears' Vincent sailed a shot off the top of the crossbar, and then Westfield's Kate Matroni MacGregor's (Minnechaug/Hampden, Mass.) hit the right post with a ball that bounced tantalizingly close to the goal line before DeSousa recoverd to smother it. BSU's Leite and Westfield's Eduardo traded scores. Bongarzone tallied with a shot to the low left side, but then DeSousa ended the match by saving the PK of Owls' goalkeeper Falcone.
DeSousa finished with six saves for Bridgewater, while Westfield's Falcone stopped six shots. Westfield had a 3-2 advantage in penalty kicks.
The win for Bridgewater extracted a measure of revenge, as the Bears had lost a 1-0 match to the Owls earlier this season, and had lost a strikingly similar semifinal to the Owls last season, when Westfield advanced in PK's with Falcone converting one of the tries for the Owls.
Westfield's season comes to an end with an 8-7-3 overall record.
Courtesy of Westfield State and Worcester State Sports Information