Banagan, Buchanan Propel Owls Past Bridgewater, 8-6

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State grad student Kylie Buchanan (Westfield, Mass.) scored three goals including both fourth quarter markers and Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) made a season-high 14 saves to lead the Owls past Bridgewater State 8-6 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Bridgewater, Mass. on Friday night.

The Owls move to 2-0 in the conference and 4-8 overall while the Bears fall to 1-1 in the MASCAC and 9-3 on the season.

The Owls held a one goal lead entering the final quarter in a game that was closely contested for its entirety. With the shot clock under ten seconds, Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.) located a cutting Buchanan in front of the net who fired home her second goal of the night for a 7-5 Owls lead.

Bridgewater responded just over two minutes later with Riley Bina (Abington, Mass.) cutting the deficit to one goal with 9:11 remaining. With less than three minutes left in the game, Buchanan possessed the ball at the top of the fan, juking a Bears defender to set up a one-on-one with keeper Sara Skaff (Lowell, Mass.) before ripping a shot into the net to regain a two-goal lead.

After winning the ensuing draw control, the Bears turned the ball over on an offensive trip, allowing Westfield to successfully clear the zone and hold onto possession for the reminder of the game, sending the Owls home with a win.

The second quarter proved to be a separator as the Owls outscored Bridgewater 4-2 in the period with the other three quarters finishing even with both sides totaling four goals. Buchanan got the scoring started to make it a 3-1 lead, then two straight goals pulled the Bears even with 5:07 left in the half.

Westfield closed the half on a high note, doubling their goal total from the first 27 minutes of action. Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) fired home her second goal of the evening, then Mykenzie Black (Hopedale, Mass.) added on with a marker with 1:35 to play in the half. With 15 seconds left, Prattson buried the team's sixth goal of the night to increase the Owls lead to three goals entering half (6-3).

Bridgewater scored two goals within 1:40 of each other in the middle portions of the third quarter to trim the Owls lead to one goal, but a strong fourth period proved to be the difference.

Banagan set the tone early in the game as she racked up five saves in the first quarter alone which allowed Westfield to gain a slight 2-1 edge after 15 minutes of action. She earned her first win of the campaign. Skaff took the loss in net, making ten saves in a game where the shots were even at 29 apiece. The Bears had 20 shots on goal compared to 18 from the Owls.

Both goalies were stout on limiting free position goals with Banagan saving all five free position shots. Skaff let one goal past her on five Westfield free position shots.

Westfield State will travel to Springfield College for their next game on Thursday at 6:00 P.M.