WESTFIELD, Mass. - Jesse Njamnshi's (Fitchburg, Mass.) goal put Westfield State on the board first, but UMass Dartmouth countered with a hat trick from Joey Paiva as the Corsairs outlasted the Owls, 5-3 in a non-conference men's soccer match at Cressy Field in North Dartmouth on Wednesday afternoon.
Njamnshi gave Westfield a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, but from there the Corsairs attacked, scoring the match's next five goals.
Paiva's first goal of the day put UMD up 2-1, a lead they would not relinquish. The Corsairs led 3-1 at the half, and built the lead to 5-1 on Paiva's third of the day in the 68th minute.
Westfield battened down the hatches late in the game, and answered with late markers from Coleby Andrade (Falmouth, Mass.) and Paul Whalley (Southwick, Mass.) to trim the final margin back to 5-3.
The Owls substituted freely, playing their second game in less than 48 hours as this game was rescheduled into a tight spot on the schedule from earlier in the season due to inclement weather at the time. The Owls used four goalkeepers, with Luke Theroux (Chicopee. Mass.), Berto Truiolo (Springfield, Mass./Pope Francis) Drew Adams (N. Attleboro, Mass.) and Collin O'Brien (Windsor Locks, Conn.) all seeing time between the pipes.
Kellen Porter got the win in goal for UMD, making four saves in 62 minutes of play.
Westfield is now 4-4-1 on the season, while UMass Dartmouth improves to 1-7-2. The Owls are 3-0 in the MASCAC and have a key conference match on Saturday, when Westfield travels to Framingham State for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff at Maple Street Field.