WESTFIELD, Mass. - The seventh-seeded Westfield State University women's field hockey team will square off against the second-seeded Worcester State Lancers in the 2022 Little East Conference postseason quarterfinals tomorrow at 4:00 P.M. from John Coughlin Memorial Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Westfield State finished their regular season 10-8 overall, 7-5 in the LEC. Worcester State enters this postseason with a regular season record of 13-6 overall and 10-2 in the LEC.
The last meeting between the two teams saw the Lancers capitalize on a second half surge that put them over the Owls 3-1 in regulation. The Owls deposited the first goal of the game with Corryn Moroney (Granby, Mass.) scoring 22:35 into the game. Westfield led 1-0 heading into the second half where the Lancers tied the game at one goal apiece. In the fourth quarter, with the game tied, Worcester junior Zoe Athanasopoulos (Hopedale, Mass.) netted their second goal of the game at the 44th minute to take the lead. The Lancers would eventually tack on a third goal late in the fourth quarter.
Worcester out-shot the Owls 27-9 in the contest as Owls goalkeeper Paige Reisman (Milford, Mass.) stopped a season-high 14 shots on net to keep Westfield in the game. On the season, Reisman owns a 6-8 record with a 2.35 goals against average and a .702 save percentage.
Worcester State goalie Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Mass.), who started all 19 games for the Lancers this season, recorded five saves in the winning effort. Ferrara has been sharp between the posts all season for Worcester as she holds the second lowest goals against (1.66) and second highest save percentage (.838) in the LEC.
This season for the Owls, junior forward Skyla Harthcock (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) and junior midfielder Emily Martin (Southwick, Mass.) have led the team in points this year. Harthcock has tallied ten goals and eight assists, and Martin has notched ten goals and six assists.
For Worcester, Grace Adams (Leominster, Mass.) leads the team in scoring with 11 goals with Karalyn Jones (Wilbraham, Mass.) pacing the unit in points (nine goals and 11 assists for 29 points).
Westfield State holds the third highest shots on goal per game average amongst LEC teams at 12.8 behind only Fitchburg State (13.24) and Plymouth State (14.69). The Lancers have proven to be one of the stingiest team in the conference, allowing the fewest goals per game to opponents at 1.63 per game.
The winner of this matchup advances to the LEC Semifinals against the winner of sixth-seeded Fitchburg State vs third-seeded Castleton, on Thursday, November 3, which will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed.