Westfield, Mass. -- Westfield State has been picked to finish in third place in the 2020 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse season, according to a vote of the eight coaches throughout the conference.
The coaches' poll selected Framingham State to take the first seed in the conference, with Bridgewater State taking the second spot. Framingham garnered 47 points and five first-place votes, Bridgewater had 40 points and two first-place votes, and the Owls rounded out the top three with 39 points and one first-place vote.
The Owls ended last season with an 11-10 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the conference. The team took home the MASCAC tournament championship against Framingham State in a 13-12 win in the title game.
While Westfield graduated a sensational 10-player senior class from last year's team, the 2020 version of the Owls will benefit from senior leadership as well.
Midfielder Sam Donohoe is back for her final season. Donohoe had 21 points on 17 goals and four assists while also finishing the season with 21 ground balls, 30 draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Also in midfield, Westfield has Senior Haley Mate (Melrose, Mass) who finished the 2019 season with 17 points with 11 goals and 6 assists.
On attack, the Owls have Senior Haley Rodriguez (Melrose, Mass), who appeared in every game for the Owls last season and finished up with 27 points, securing 22 assists and 5 goals. She added 22 ground balls.
On defense, the Owls return senior Kirsten Longbottom (Avon, Conn) who appeared in 15 games last season with 11 caused turnovers and 27 ground balls. Lily Howes (Cummington / Wahconah) appeared in 15 games last season and had 4 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers.
Taking over in goal will be sophomore goalkeeper Sam Simonetty (Poughquag, N.Y. / Arlington) who played in 11 games last season with 23 saves for the Owls. Simonetti served as the understudy to 3-time MASCAC Tournament MVP Maria Woodall last year.
Others expected to contribute on the offensive end include junior Sarah Stapleton (Dedham, Mass), who had 14 draw controls and 6 ground balls. Sophomore attack Victoria Paras finished with five goals and five assists, and sophomore Catherine McKenna had three goals and two assists in limited action.
Defenders Summer Zackaricz (Northampton / Northampton) and Hannah McKenna saw limited time last season and will likely step up their roles this season.
The Owls roster will include 12 newcomers. Liv Mikkila, Sophie Marini and Colleen Fellows all played for Westfield's field hockey team in the fall, Hannah Herron comes in off of the indoor track season, and Emma Cretella will join once the women's basketball season ends.
Head coach Jeff Pechulis returns for his seventh season with this strong circle of players. Play begins on Saturday, Feb 22 with the first contest of the year at Western New England in Springfield, Mass. The Owls will spend spring break week in Englewood, Florida and open a three-game week against 20th ranked Illinois Wesleyan on March 9.
--written by Anna Matthews, sports information intern