WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State sophomore Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass.) scored her 16th goal of the season 1:15 into the second overtime period to lift the Owls past NEWMAC-Champion Emerson College, 2-1 in an NCAA Tournament first round game from Scranton, Penn. on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield advances into the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2011 where the Owls defeated Stevens Institute of Technology in penalty kicks.
With the game tied at one goal apiece heading into the first minute of double overtime, the Owls possessed the ball into attacking territory as Westfield (16-3-1) formed a triangle of passes between Parker, Marissa Jacob (Holden, Mass.) and Kylee Murphy (Haverhill, Mass.). Parker tapped a pass back to Jacob who then one-touched a pass to the top of the box to Murphy who corralled the ball and dished it off to Parker at the left-corner of the box. Parker was able to beat the nearest defender by touching the ball about five yards forward, then she fired a low shot past the diving Amara Shaub (Torrance, Calif.) that bounced off the far post and in.
After both teams were held scoreless heading into the second half, the Owls struck first just 1:15 into the half. First-year Morgan Berthiaume (Webster, Mass.) lobbed a pass to the 25-yard line where graduate student Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.) was able to settle the feed and then pass it back to Berthiaume who took two touches to her right and labeled a shot to the upper-right corner of the net to put the Owls in front, 1-0.
Westfield would cling to a one-goal lead into the final nine minutes of the game where the Lyons found the equalizer in the 81st minute with Gina Lukoskie (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) narrowly keeping the ball in bounds and then crossing it into the middle of the box to find a sliding Simone Barragan-Shaw (San Francisco, Calif.) who sent a left-footed shot off the left post and in to tie the game.
Both teams took one shot apiece over the course of both overtime periods, with the Westfield shot coming from Parker who connected to send the Owls into the Round of 32.
Westfield keeper Lauryn Davis (Templeton, Mass.) and Emerson's Shaub each registered seven saves in the match. The game was evenly played throughout with Westfield holding a slim 14-13 shot advantage and a 9-8 shots on goal mark.
With the victory, Westfield State advances into the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Bowdoin and Scranton University tomorrow at 3:00 P.M. from Weiss Field in Scranton, Pennsylvania with a trip to the sweet 16 on the line. The Westfield women's soccer program has an opportunity to advance into the second weekend of the tournament, a feat that has never been achieved in program history. Video, live stats, and other tournament information can be found at WestfieldStateOwls.com