Weekend Preview: Six Teams in Action on Saturday

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State athletics will have six teams in action on Saturday with women's soccer serving as the lone home event on the schedule.

WOMEN'S SOCCER VS FRAMINGHAM – ALUMNI FIELD / 12:00 P.M.
VIDEO / LIVE STATS

Women's soccer will host Framingham State from Alumni Field with the Owls putting themselves in the driver seat for the top seed in the MASCAC Tournament. The Owls picked up a 1-0 victory at Worcester State last Saturday, giving the Lancers their first conference loss of the season while improving Westfield to 4-0-1 in the league.

The Owls are the only team in the conference without a regulation loss and are currently in second place in the conference standings with a game in hand on Worcester who has just two MASCAC matches remaining compared to the Owls three.

The Rams enter Saturday's match in the fourth spot in the conference standings, shaking off a slow start by winning their last three conference games to move to 3-2 in the league.

Westfield is coming off a 2-2 non-conference draw against UMass Boston and it was only the second time all season in which the Owls have allowed two or more goals in a game. The Owls have allowed just one goal in conference play thus far with all four MASCAC wins coming in shutout fashion. Senior goalkeeper Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.) has been a strong contributing factor to the team's success in the back as she carries a 0.87 goals against average into this weekend's game.

The Owls will have to be aware of Rams first-year forward Leiyani Buckner who is top three in the MASCAC with five goals and also leads Framingham in assists (two) and points (12).

OWLS ON THE ROAD:

SWIMMING AND DIVING – FRI. AT USJ PENTATHLON (5:00PM) / SAT. AT UNION (1:00PM)

Owls swimming and diving will have a busy weekend after a successful season opener in which they defeated Rhode Island College 188-72. Jackie Roccabruna and Olivia Harkins each won two races to pace the Owls.

CROSS COUNTRY AT CONN. COLLEGE / WESTERN NEW ENGLAND

Men's and women's cross country will have a split squad this weekend traveling to both Connecticut College and Western New England. At Conn. College, the men's 8k Blue Championship Race will begin at 12:00 P.M. followed by the Women's 6k Caroline Grape '22 Memorial Blue Championship Race at 1:00 P.M. The men's and women's open races will begin beforehand at 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.

At the Western New England Invitational, the women's race will begin at 10:00 A.M. followed by the men's race at 11:00 A.M.

Both teams are coming off strong showings at the James Earley Invitational, hosted by Westfield State. The women matched their best ever finish at the meet, placing second out of 13 teams, trailing only second-ranked Williams College. The men's team delivered a strong performance as well, placing third out of 18 competing teams.

FOOTBALL AT FRAMINGHAM – 12:00 P.M.

Owls football will be back in action after a bye week, travelling to Framingham State for a noon kickoff. Westfield enters the game with a 2-2 conference mark (2-3 overall) while Framingham sits in a tie for first place with a 4-0 MASCAC record (4-1 overall).

The ground game will be one to watch for as the game features a pair of top five running backs in Manny Mengata and Jaheim Daniels. Mengata is second in the MASCAC with 507 rushing yards while Daniels is fourth with 396. The Owls defense has been stingy against the run in the first half of the year, allowing just 36.4 rushing yards per game (54.2 yards less than the next closest team).

Framingham has wins over Anna Maria, UMass Dartmouth, Bridgewater State, and Fitchburg State thus far and have proven an ability to be effective in different style games: A 46-40 overtime shootout vs Bridgewater compared to a 14-10 slugfest victory against UMass Dartmouth.

MEN'S SOCCER AT FRAMINGHAM – 2:00 P.M.

Men's soccer will also travel to Framingham for a conference clash with the Rams. The Owls are currently fourth in the MASCAC with a 2-1-2 conference record (6-3-4) while the Rams sit in seventh at 2-3.

Last weekend, the Owls offense exploded for six goals in a 6-4 win against Worcester State. Nick Parakilas built on his league-leading goal total by scoring twice to move his season number to 14. Dylan Wesley also added two goals for an Owls team that has registered four or more goals in five matches (and six or more in three of those).

For the Rams, Kaio Santos Da Silva has been the top goal scorer and facilitator on the team, leading the unit with six goals and six assists.

Video and live stats for all road games can be found at WestfieldStateOwls.com