Westfield, Mass. – Westfield State University women's soccer will travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania as the Owls face off against Emerson College in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, November 12 at 1:00 PM.
Westfield State will make its ninth appearance in the tournament in the last 13 years, all under current head coach Todd Ditmar. Last year in the NCAA Tournament, the Owls fell to the top ranked team in Division III and 2021 tournament runner-up The College of New Jersey 4-0 in the first round. The best tournament run from the Owls came in 2011 after advancing to the second round following a victory against Stevens College in a penalty kick shootout, before falling to Williams College 2-1 in the second round.
The Owls received an automatic bid to the tournament by capturing the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship following a 1-0 victory over Fitchburg State this past Saturday.
The Emerson College Lions enter the NCAA Tournament after winning their first-ever New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Tournament Championship (NEWMAC) 1-0 over fourth-seeded Clark College. The Lions ended their regular season with an overall record of 12-3-5 and 6-1-3 mark in the NEWMAC. The Lions defeated six-seeded Wheaton College 3-2 in double overtime in the first-round, then followed with a 3-2 victory over second-seeded Babson College in the tournament semifinals.
Westfield State and Emerson didn't meet this season but faced several common opponents including Mount Holyoke, Coast Guard, Plymouth State, Springfield College and Smith College. The Owls went 4-0 in those contests and led Springfield 2-1 before the game was later postponed and never rescheduled. Emerson collected a 4-0-1 record against those same five opponents with the one draw coming against Smith College. In the Owls matchup against Smith, Westfield came out victorious 4-2. Other victories from common opponents came with similar scoring margins.
The Owls enter tournament play on an eight-game winning streak. MASCAC Offensive Player of the Year Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.) notched 23 goals in 19 games and currently ranks seventh in Division III in goals scored. She is also sixth in the nation for goals per game at 1.26. Rennich sits at 50 career goals, which is one tally off the program record of 51 which is currently held by Sandy Pinto. Sophomore forward Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass.) paces the MASCAC in assists with ten after leading all of Division III in goals a season ago. She has also totaled 15 goals, placing her second in the league in scoring.
As a team, the Owls scored the most goals (54) in the league while also allowing the fewest goals at 0.84 per game. The Westfield defense has been a consistent strength of the team this year, with MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year Jaida Cochran (Middleboro, Mass.) fronting a unit that has secured 11 shutouts in 19 games this season. The Owls have tremendous depth on the back end, with All-Conference honorees Kylee Murphy (Haverhill, Mass.) and Marissa Jacob (Holden, Mass.) stifling the midfield play with Jenna Hurlburt (Kingston, Mass.) anchoring the last line of defense for Westfield. Senior goalkeeper Lauryn Davis (Templeton, Mass.) has started in net in five straight games for the Owls after missing time during the regular season due to injury. She has not suffered a loss between the posts in ten starts this season, collecting an 8-0-1 record with a 0.38 goals against average and an .857 save percentage.
For Emerson, junior forward Brittney Righetti (San Fransisco, Calif.) leads the Lions in goals scored with seven. She is supported by Cali Bruce (Glen Allen, VA), and Simone Barragan-Shaw (San Fransisco, Calif.) who have registered six and five goals apiece. Barragan-Shaw shares the lead assist totals with Gina Lukoskie (Mechanicsburg, Penn.), and Ainslee MacQuarrie (Kensington, N.H) who all have recorded three assists this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Amara Schaub (Torrance, Calif.) is the main option in net for the Lions. Schaub is tied for 13th in the nation for most shutouts with nine and is the fourth-leading goalkeeper in saves in the NEWMAC this season with a total of 94 saves through 19 games. On the year, she owns an 11-3-5 record with a sub-one goals against average (0.94) and an .839 save percentage.
The Owls and Lions are positioned in a four-team regional bracket with the winning team squaring off against the winner of Bowdoin College and University of Scranton (Penn.) in the round of 32 on Sunday, November 13.
Video is currently available on the website and will be posted below. Live stats for the game will also be provided and posted once available.
Video Link: https://landmarknetwork.tv/scranton/?B=459931
Live Stats: TBD (will be posted when made available)