WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State's Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn) each scored their 100th career point as the Owls rolled to a 21-6 women's lacrosse victory over Fitchburg State on Friday night.
Westfield improves to 10-6 on the season and 5-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Fitchburg slips to 6-9 and 0-4 in the league.
The Owls jumped out to an 8-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and rarely looked back.
Hafensteiner tallied back-to-back assists in the middle of the run, feeding Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) from the left side of the cage to earn her 100th career point.
Late in the half, Prattson fed DeMaio from behind the goal for her second assist of the game and her 100th career point.
Westfield led 12-4 at the half.
Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) led Westfield with three goals and three assists, while DeMaio found the back of the net four times. Nine different players tallied goals for Westfied.
Noelle Kennedy (Walpole, Mass.) got the Falcons on the board for the first time early in the second quarter when she sizzled a high free position shot for a goal from the top of the fan. Kennedy and Autumn Tibbets (Lunenberg, Mass.) each had a pair of goals for the Falcons.
Caroline Persson (Worcester, Mass.) made nine saves for Fitchburg, while Westfield split the game between its three goalies, with Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, NY), Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass.), and Emily Girard (Buxton, Maine) all getting time between the pipes.
Westfield outshot the Falcons 38-12, and held a 15-7 advantage in ground balls.
The Owls recognized youth players from Westfield Youth Girls Lacrosse before the game, who joined the Owls for warm-ups and the national anthem after practicing with the Owls on Thursday afternoon. The game also highlighted Morgan's Message, a mental health advocacy group for student athletes.
Westfield has just one regular-season game remaining, as the Owls will host Framingham State, in a game that will likely determine the league's regular-season champion and the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
First draw is 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. The Owls will recognize their graduating seniors before the game.
Fitchburg has a pair of conference games remaining on its schedule, and will travel to Salem State on Tuesday, April 23 for a 7:00 p.m. start.