WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year midfielder Paul Whalley (Southwick, Mass.) obtained the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal off a header with 4:07 left in the match to lift the Owls to a 1-0 conference win over Fitchburg State on Saturday.

Whalley delivered his fourth goal of the season on Homecoming Weekend, on a day in which the Owls remembered the life of former men's soccer head coach John Evans, who passed in February of 2023.

Whalley has scored a goal in three of his last six games, including a bicycle-kick strike last week in a non-conference match against UMass Dartmouth.

The victory against the Falcons moved Westfield to 4-1 in league play as the Owls are currently perched in a tie for second place in the conference standings with Salem State and a single point behind the top spot. 

Westfield State fill face Vermont State University Castleton today at 4:00 P.M. in a rescheduled game that was moved up from October 25.