WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State University freshman Marissa Jacob (Jefferson, Mass.) scored twice in a big 8-0 MASCAC win over MCLA on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
This marks the fourth-straight conference win for Westfield State, as they improve to 4-1 in the MASCAC. MCLA drops to 0-5 in the conference with the loss.
Over the past four conference wins, the Owls have outscored their opponents 20-2, establishing themselves as quite a high-power offense in the league. Today, the Owls used seven different goal scorers in the victory.
Westfield got on the board early and often, scoring three goals in the span of 16 minutes to start the game, and four total in the first half.
Marissa Jacob got things going in the first minute as her shot from 20 yards out bounced off the post, off the Trailblazer keeper's back, and into the net for the 1-0 Owl lead.
Junior Lydia Kinsman (Granville, Mass.) would follow that effort up nine minutes later with her 8th tally of the year. Kinsman received a bouncing pass from Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.) in the middle of the box and volleyed it past MCLA keeper Megan Richardson (Adams, Mass.) for the nifty goal and 2-0 Westfield advantage.
Not long after that, the pair would reverse roles as Rennich received a pass Kinsman down the wing and snuck a shot past Richardson for the goal putting the Owls up 3-0.
The fourth Westfield tally came with less than a minute to go in the first half. Freshman Mary Kate McAleavey (Quincy, Mass.) took a one-time pass from about 30 yards out and sent a booming kick that made it over the head of the Trailblazer keeper and into the back of the net.
While the score may have been lopsided, Richardson made some stellar saves in net for the Trailblazers, denying some premium point-blank chances for the Owls and keeping the game within range in the first half.
But the brave efforts in net wouldn't be enough, as the Owls took the 4-0 advantage at halftime and kept the pressure on in the second half, scoring four more goals on 16 shots.
Freshmen Haley Freund (Littleton, Mass.) and Jenna Hurlburt (Kingston, Mass.) picked up the first goals of their collegiate careers, while Jacob tallied her second of the contest and Jana Paecht (Holliston, Mass.) wrapped up the scoring in the 85th minute to give the Owls the assertive 8-0 victory.
MCLA goalkeeper Megan Richardson made 14 saves and was a bright spot early on for the Trailblazers. Goalkeepers Lauryn Davis (Templeton, Mass.) and Lauren Butler (Spencer, Mass.) split the game in net for the Owls, with neither of them facing a single shot on goal.
Westfield outshot MCLA 32-1 on the afternoon, with the one Trailblazer shot missing wide left.
The Owls will be back on the pitch Tuesday when they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a 7:00 p.m. start.
MCLA will host Hartwick on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.