WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior goalkeeper Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) recorded six saves but a Worcester State goal by Natalya Morin (Barre, Mass.) early in the second quarter served as the game-winning tally in a 1-0 setback in a MASCAC game on the road Tuesday night.
The Owls loss pulls the Lancers into a tie for second place with Westfield as the two teams split the regular season series with the Owls defeating Worcester in the MASCAC opener 3-2 in overtime at Alumni Field. Westfield drops to 7-7 overall and 4-2 in the MASCAC while Worcester has now won four of their last five games, advancing to 5-8 on the season and 4-2 in the league.
Both teams have four conference games remaining as the two jostle for playoff positioning down the stretch.
After a scoreless first quarter, Worcester netted the game's opening, and eventual game-winning goal, 1:06 into the period with Allison Keenan (Marlborough, Mass.) finding Morin for her team-leading eighth marker of the season to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead.
Gniadek kept the Owls at a one goal deficit midway through the second quarter with a pair of saves against Rihanna Morin (Burrillville, R.I.) from point-blank range.
The Owls had a pair of penalty corner attempts to finish the first half, but the Lancers defense held Westfield without a shot attempt to send the contest to halftime.
With the game still 1-0, the Owls ramped up their offensive pressure with three minutes remaining in the third, firing five shots towards the net sandwiched between two penalty corners. Lancers' goalie Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Mass.) stood tall in net, denying consecutive shots from Meredith Higgins (Enfield, Conn.) and Molly Finnegan (Westport, Mass.) before stopping a third shot from Abby Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) with 59 seconds remaining in the frame.
Worcester threatened to double the lead off a penalty corner four minutes into the quarter, but Jordan Conrad (Worcester, Mass.) made a defensive save to keep the Owls within striking distance.
Despite the defensive efforts, the Owls were unable to generate consistent offense in the final period as the Lancers back end held Westfield without a shot attempt to secure the victory. Westfield was awarded a penalty corner with 15 seconds left in one final attempt to push the game to overtime but were unable to capitalize.
Ferrara (W, 5-8) made four saves to complete the shutout while Gniadek (L, 6-6) took a hard-fought loss.
Another road test awaits Westfield State this Saturday at 5:00 P.M. as the Owls travel to league-leading Fitchburg State who finished their first rotation through the league with a 5-0 MASCAC record.