Familiar Foes: Owls and Lancers Meet Again in MASCAC Playoffs

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State women's soccer will compete against Worcester State in a MASCAC semifinal at Alumni Field on Friday, November 8 at 1:00pm in the first of two Owls soccer playoff matches. Westfield State women's soccer looks to gain their fourth championship title in a row entering the 2024 postseason with an overall record of 10-4-4. The Owls stand second in the MASCAC rankings with a record of 6-1 in league games, earning a first round bye with Bridgewater State.

Last season, the Owls entered the playoffs as the second overall seed in the tournament, winning at home against the Lancers before defeating Bridgewater 2-1 on the road to claim their third consecutive MASCAC title.

Worcester used a balanced scoring attack to get past sixth-seeded Framingham State in a MASCAC first round game with four different players scoring for the Lancers.  

Westfield defeated Worcester 3-2 in the regular season with Worcester scoring the game's first two goals before the Owls stormed back by scoring three in a row from Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass.), two of which coming in the second half. The game was physical and fast-paced, which is predicted for the semi-finals as well.

The Owls and Lancers playoff matchup has been a mainstay within the MASCAC Tournament in recent years as the two teams have both met in the last three postseasons. The last two years, the two teams met in the conference semifinals with the Owls winning both, the most recent being a 3-2 victory in the exact same scenario as this season. In the 2021 season, Westfield and Worcester played in the MASCAC Championship game which ended in a 1-0 Owls win.

The Owls exhibit a strong offensive game with a conference-leading 51 goals. Parker leads the MASCAC in goals (20) and points (45). Her speed on the field allows her to out-beat opposing defenders. Kiana Muratsuka (Mililani, Hawaii) has been a steady compliment to Parker upfront all season as she leads the MASCAC with 11 assists and is fourth in the conference with ten goals.

For the Lancers, Ella Tatarczuk enters the playoffs as the team's leading scorer with six goals. She was one of the four goal scorers in Wednesday's playoff win over the Rams and opened the scoring between the Owls and Lancers in the regular season clash.

Ava Lemanski is second in the Lancers scoring attack with five goals and 11 points.

The battle in net will be a key determining factor in the outcome of the game in a match featuring two of the league's top goalkeepers in Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.) and Ella Gumienny. Gumienny leads the MASCAC with a 1.03 goals against average and is second in the league with an .856 save percentage. Robak is close behind with the second-lowest goals against in the conference at 1.28 while also allowing the second fewest goals among league leaders.

The winner of the Owls and Lancers game will play in the MASCAC Championship game on Sunday against the winner of top-seeded Bridgewater State and fourth-seeded Fitchburg State. The highest remaining seed will host the tournament final.