Matthew Allen (file photo)
Posted: Oct 16, 2023
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Matthew Allen (Southwick, Mass.) broke a 1-1 tie with a penalty shot goal at the 70:30 mark, as the Owls topped Vermont State University Castleton 2-1 in a non-conference game on the road Monday night.
The Owls improve to 6-6-1 on the season while the Spartans fall to 4-8-1 overall.
In the second half, with the match knotted at one goal apiece, Coleby Andrade (Falmouth, Mass.) maneuvered through a double team by the sideline and dashed towards the net where he was tripped in the box, setting up a penalty shot.
Allen stepped up and drilled a shot to the lower right corner of the net with Spartans' keeper Jonathan Maul (Westwood, N.J.) diving the opposite direction to give Westfield the game-winning tally.
The Owls nearly pushed the lead to two goals minutes later with Ethan Margolis (Wakefield, Mass.) nailing the crossbar.
Westfield held off a late flurry from Castleton, with Luke Theroux (Chicopee, Mass.) stepping up to make consecutive saves inside the 84th minute followed by a defensive team save to keep a one goal lead.
Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) opened the scoring in the contest after an outlet pass from Matthew Elmasian (Springfield, Mass.) to Paul Whalley (Southwick, Mass.) initiated a break out for Hebert. He collected the pass from Whalley, then went unmarked for nearly fifty yards downfield where he rocketed a shot from just outside the box to the far upper-90, giving Westfield the lead 29:52 into action.
The Spartans evened up the score just before the halftime break, with a shot from Liam Cramer (Granby, Conn.) hitting the post with the rebound deflecting to Tanner Curtis (Bay Head, N.J.) who scored his third goal of the season for the equalizer with 1:07 remaining in the half.
Castleton outshot Westfield 19-11, but the Owls held a slight edge in shots on goal (5-4). Theroux (W, 6-5) earned the victory after recording two saves. Maul (L, 2-2) stopped three shots on net.
Westfield State has two games remaining in the regular season, and will return home to host Bridgewater State, the league's current top team, on senior day on Saturday at noon.