WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State got three goals and an assist from senior Alexa Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) as the Owls celebrated their senior day with a 9-4 MASCAC women's lacrosse win over Worcester State at Alumni Field on Saturday.
The Owls and lancers were tied at 2-2 midway through the first half of play, but after a time out, the Owls regrouped to score the next five straight goals to close the half. Tonelli started the scoring run as she caught a feed from classmate Marissa Nimeskern (Hanover, Mass.) in the middle of the fan and wheeled and fired a high shot to give the Owls a 3-2 lead with 14:54 left in the opening period.
Tonelli capped the first half scoring with a free position goal with 7:02 left in the half. the first half of the game was played in steady rain with a brief downpour early in the half.
The Owls extended their lead to as many as seven goals, 9-2 in the second half, as Tonelli fed fellow senior Sydney Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) from behind the goal for a man-up goal with 22:31 left in the game, and then Tonelli netted her third of the game, scoring off a pass from Hayley Rodriguez (Melrose, Mass.) to give the Owls a commanding margin.
Worcester got late goals from Ann Maher and Kelly Austin for the final margin.
The Owls got two goals each from Victoria Paras and senior Elizabeth Navoni (Mansfield, Mass.), and Rodriguez chipped in with three assists. Owls' senior goalkeeper Maria Woodall (King Philip/Norfolk, Mass.) made 10 saves to preserve the win.
Worcester was led by two goals from Madison Brennan. Goalkeeper Chloe O'Brien finished with 13 saves, including a number of impressive saves on point-blank shots from the Owls.
Westfield State recognized a mammoth 10-player senior class before the game, which has contributed 56 wins over the past four years, including two regular season MASCAC titles, two MASCAC tournament titles, three appearances in the conference championship game, and two straight trips to the NCAA tournament in which the Owls have advanced to the second round. The Owls have a composite 56-33 record in that span and are 22-4 in MASCAC play.
Among that senior class, Lambert moved into a tie for fifth on the Owls all-time scoring list with her 198th career point today, and defender Caroline Arket (Arlington/Pouquag, NY) extended her school record mark with three caused turnovers on the day to give her an even 100 for her career. Defenders Olivia Overdahl (Milford, Mass.) and Shannon Gillis (Norwood, Mass.), attack Allie Fedak (Minnechaug/Wilbraham, Mass.), and two-sport standout Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock/Williamstown, Mass.) rounded out the Owls senior class.