Westfield State senior Cassidy Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored the 100th goal of her career to highlight the Owls women's lacrosse team's efforts as Westfield State topped Salem State, 18-4 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Alumni Field on Saturday to cap a busy day of sporting events on campus.
Westfield improves to 8-5 on the season and 3-0 in the MASCAC. Westfield won their fifth straight game, and second in two days. The Owls sit in a 3-way tie for first place in the conference standings with Framingham and Worcester. Salem dips to 4-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Harvey finished with four goals and an assist on the day, netting the 100th of her career with 10:51 left in the third quarter off of a feed from Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.), who found Harvey on the left side of the fan, where she spun past her defender and found the back of the net.
Harvey and Hafensteiner are part of a trio of players (along with GK Kara Banagan) from Niskayuna who have found their way 91 miles east from the upstate New York enclave to play for the Owls.
Hafensteiner finished with a goal and three assists.
Westfield jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back, building a 10-goal lead and getting the clock into running time with 8:06 left in the first half. Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) scored all three of her goals early, helping to spur the quick start, and Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.) tallied a goal and four assists.
Jenna Wells scored two goals to lead Salem State.
Westfield got six saves in goal from Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah), while Salem's Carson Reidy stopped nine shots.
Westfield State honored five graduating seniors before the game- Harvey, Rinkus, Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.), Megan Bailey (Qunicy, Mass.) and Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn./St. Paul's). That group has helped the Owls to a 32-14 record, one MASCAC Conference tournament title and NCAA appearance, and two MASCAC regular season title, while also weathering the 2020 pandemic season cancellation and an abbreviated 2021 schedule due to pandemic conditions.