WESTFIELD, Mass.  – The Panthers outlasted the Owls in a LEC thriller as Plymouth State defeated Westfield State 3-2 in penalty strokes on senior night for the Owls this past Saturday at Alumni Field.

Before the game, Westfield State honored their five members of the 2018 senior class. Seniors Jordyn Gosselin (Bolton, Vermont), Julia Davis (Somerset, Mass.), Brittany Bowes (Leicester, Mass.), Carly Zona (Auburn, Mass.), and Page Demarest were all given a special tribute alongside their family members.

The Owls got off to a fast start as senior Julia Davis opened the scoring off a nice dish from her senior counterpart Jordyn Gosselin to make it 1-0 Westfield.

Later in the half, Westfield State would strike again in an incredible diving effort from Allie Giguere (Lynn, Mass. / Bishop Fenwick), tipping the ball past the Panther keeper to put the Owls up by two, 2-0.

Westfield outshot Plymouth 10-4 in the first half, controlling much of the play and scoring chances.

However, the Panthers would storm right back in the second half, outshooting the Owls 7-3 in the first ten minutes.

Jess Mezquita (Atkinson, N.H.) would cap off the Plymouth rally as she snuck a rebound shot by Katie Vamosi (Easton, Mass.) to make it 2-1. Mezquita would strike again only three minutes later, rifling a shot into the upper part of the net to even the game at two.

The two teams would head to overtime after a scoreless finish to regulation, where the first overtime period was packed with action and scoring chances. With 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Owl forward Allie Giguere was in all alone on Jess Distler (Brookfield, N.H.), but the sophomore goalkeeper would make a tremendous save to keep the game knotted at 2-2.

After two scoreless overtime periods, the game proceeded to penalty strokes.

Laura Secone (Harpswell, Maine) and Haley Wakefield (South Paris, Maine) converted on their strokes for Plymouth, and goalkeeper Jess Distler denied Westfield State's Marina Small (South Harwich, Mass.) to end the shootout and win it for the Panthers.

Distler finished with 11 saves for Plymouth, while Vamosi had six for the Owls.

With the win, Plymouth State improves to 5-9 overall and 5-6 in the Little East Conference, while Westfield State drops to 6-11, 4-7 in the LEC.

Westfield State hosts Western New England Tuesday afternoon in their final home game of the season starting at 4:00 p.m.

Plymouth State will host Saint Joseph's (Maine) also in their final home game of the season Monday with action beginning at 4:00 p.m.