WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State's Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.) and Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) each scored their 100th career point, powering the Owls past Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 17-5 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's lacrosse conference-opener for the Owls at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield (4-5, 1-0 MASCAC) ran out to a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 9-2 at the half behind three goals each from DeMaio and Connolly. Cassie Llewellyn (Fairfield, Conn./Warde) scored both goals for the Buccaneers (2-6, 0-1 MASCAC).
Both Connolly and DeMaio entered the game with 95 career points. DeMaio won the race to 100 with 7:37 left in the third period, as she made a good catch on a high feed from the top of the fan from Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn.), and DeMaio spun and found the back of the net with her shot to give the Owls an 11-2 lead.
Connolly got her 100th point with 9:30 left in the game, with Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) feeding Connolly from the left side of the fan for Connolly's fifth of six goals on the day.
The Owls got the clock to running time by taking a 10-goal lead early in the fourth quarter.
DeMaio finished with six goals and an assist, and Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.) scored two goals and assisted on six others. Ball movement was the order of the day for the Owls, registering assists on 15 of the 17 goals on the day. Ariana Andresen (Long Island, N.Y./Comsewogue) added three goals and an assist.
Westfield State goalkeeper Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah) made eight saves to pick up the win between the pipes.
Mass Maritime goalkeeper Sue Bird (Duxbury, Mass.) finished with eight saves. The Buccaneers were led by two goals and an assists from Llewellyn. Allie Dickinson (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake) added a goal and an assist.
The game began in a steady rain which steadily cleared by the end of the match.
Westfield out-shot the Buccaneers 35-17, and had a 14-11 advantage in draw controls.
Westfield will next play a non-conference game at Wheaton College on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.