Field Hockey Hosts Tourney Semifinal on Thursday Night

WESTFIELD, Mass. —The Westfield State Owls welcome defending MASCAC Champion Worcester State to Alumni Field for this year's MASCAC playoff tournament semifinals game. The Owls will host the Lancers Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field.

Little has been decided between these two team in the two regular season meeting this season, as this will be the rubber match for the the season series which is even at 1-1 apiece. 

In the first meeting, the Owls came out on top with a 3-2 victory decided in overtime. Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) was the hero for Westfield State as she scored on an assist from Abby Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) in the third quarter to break a 1-1 tie. Later on, as it went into extra time, Murphy took it upon herself and scored an unassisted goal to seal the deal.

The second meeting at Worcester played much to the first in the way of a close matchup as the Lancers held the Owls at bay for a 1-0 win. That game saw its one and only score in the second quarter as Worcester's Natalya Morin found the back of the net off a pass from Allison Keenan.

In the last five games between these two teams, the final score has been decided by just one goal four times.

Worcester State took on the sixth-seeded Salem State Vikings and took the first-round and emerged with a 5-2 win. Morin led the scoring for the Lancers with two goals to help lift them past the Vikings. Worcester State outshot Salem 24-4 along with totalling six more penalty corners.

Morin is the leader in points (28), goals (11), and assists (6) for Worcester State. She is second in the MASCAC for points, tied for third in goals (with Owls forward Kaleigh Murphy), and tied for fifth in assists.

Murphy is the leader for Westfield State as she has 27 points on 11 goals and five assists. Murphy is third in the MASCAC in points, tied for third in goals, and tied for eighth in assists. The rest of Westfield top-three point leaders are Meredith Higgins (Enfield, Conn.) with 15 points, and Clark and Erin Lane (Canton, Mass.) are tied at 12. Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) takes care of goalkeeping duties for the Owls has 144 saves, a 2.38 GAA, and a .778 save percentage for Westfield.

There is no guarantee for either team to have a another game as one team's season will be done Thursday night --  but the winner will move onto the MASCAC playoff tournament championship. The Owls-Lancers winner will face the victor of number one-seeded Fitchburg State and fifth-seeded Bridgewater State on Saturday, November 9, location and times are TBD

-- Written by Hunter Briggs, sports information graduate assistant