Bridgewater State/Fitchburg State Box Score

Worcester State/Westfield State Box Score

Courtesy of Bridgewater State Sports Information

Bridgewater State 18, Fitchburg State 3

Top-seeded Bridgewater State and second-seeded Worcester State advance to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship, Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m. on the campus of Bridgewater State after winning their respective semifinal games Thursday night.

In the first semifinal of the night, Bridgewater State posted an 18-3 victory over fourth-seeded Fitchburg State University at Swenson Field.

Junior attack Riley Cachelin (Westwood, Mass.) paced the Bears with a game high eight points on four goals and four assists in addition to four ground balls. Freshman midfielder Alex King (Weymouth, Mass.) added a game-high five goals to go along with an assist, while freshman attack Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.) notched three goals and a pair of helpers.

Sophomore midfielder Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with two goals, an assist, two ground balls and a game-best ten controlled draws.  Senior attack Melanie Appleman (Hyannis, Mass.) scored a goal and assisted on three others, while senior midfielder Taylor Clancy (Braintree, Mass.)  finished with two goals, four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.

Bridgewater scored the first 13 goals of the game and dominated play from start to finish.  The Bears held a 13-2 advantage at the intermission and took their biggest lead of the game at 18-2 on a goal by freshman defender  Gaelin Reall (Providence, R.I.) with 3:24 remaining in the final stanza.  Bridgewater held a decided advantage in shots (34-17), ground balls (22-13) and draws (15-8).

BSU sophomore netminder Chandler Ross (Wrentham, Mass.) registered ten saves between the pipes to record her fifth win of the season.  Sophomore Elizabeth Darrigo (Billerica, Mass.) turned aside 11 shots in goal for the visiting Falcons.

Junior attack Lindsey White (Hanover, Mass.) paced the visitors with a pair of goals. Fitchburg ends the season with an overall mark of 9-9.

Courtesy of Worcester State Sports Information

Worcester State 12, Westfield State 9

Behind three goals and two assists by sophomore Jackie Connors (Ashland, MA), second-seeded Worcester State defeated third-seeded Westfield State, 12-9, Thursday evening at Coughlin Memorial Field.

The Lancers, winners of their last seven games, improve their record to 12-3 with the victory. They advance to the league tournament title game to take on Saturday to take on top-seed and defending champion Bridgewater State at 1 o'clock.

The Owls see their campaign come to a close at 9-9.

Sophomore Kalia Chase (Northbridge, MA) also notched a hat-trick to help pace the Blue and Gold offensively while freshman teammates Angelina Sutherland (Tyngsboro, MA) and Alaina Martin (E. Longmeadow, MA) both tallied twice.

Second-year Katelyn Murphy (Billerica, MA) distinguished herself defensively with five ground balls and a pair of forced miscues.

Junior Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, MA) notched five points with three assists to help pace Westfield State as sophomore Blair Smith (Milford, MA) chipped in with a trio of goals and four draw controls.

Senior Jen Carew (Billerica, MA) had five ground balls and a trifecta of draws to help lead the charge on the back line for the Owls.

Chase and Connors hit home back-to-back scores to help give the Lancers the early 2-0 margin before senior Lee Meskevich (Becket, MA) and sophomore Roni Orcutt (Granville, MA) answered by knotting up the contest at the 17:05 mark.

Worcester State, however, closed out the period with a 3-1 run over the final 12 minutes of the stanza.

Chase notched an unassisted tally with 11:07 on the clock and Martin scored a key free position marker as 17 ticks remained in the frame to help give the hosts the 5-3 advantage at the intermission.

The Lancers took control to start off the second period by doubling up their opponents 6-3 and opened up an 11-6 lead with 13:43 left in regulation.

Eight-meter shots by Chase and junior Angela Grassetti (Agawam, MA) bookended the skein with eight meter shots for Worcester State as Sutherland also registered two goals for the hosts.  Lenhardt found the back of the net twice and she assisted another score to help the visitors keep pace.

Westfield State attempted a rally with a 3-1 surge as Eaton started things off with a free position goal at the 11:06 mark before Smith recorded consecutive markers to help the Owls trail 12-9 just 3½ minutes later. 

Sophomore net minder Mimi Khampaeng (Hamden, MA) helped preserve the deficit with a pair of stops in the final minutes of regulation, but the visitors turned the ball over three times offensively and were held without a shot in the final seven minutes of the contest.

Freshman goalkeeper Lea Robichaud (Holden, MA) improved her record to 12-3 with the victory as she finished with six stops and a duo of ground balls. Khampaeng was active with seven saves, two ground balls and a pair of forced miscues.

In what proved to be a nearly even contest between the two squads, Worcester State held slim margins in shots (21-16), attempts on goal (16-15), ground balls (16-14) and draws (12-11). The Lancers also were effective on clears (15-for-17) and converted five of their seven tries from the eight-meter line.

Westfield State finished 10-for-13 on clears while going three-for-five on their free possession bids.