Westfield State Earns Top Spot in 2022 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament
After going a perfect 7-0 in MASCAC play, Westfield State earned the top spot in the 2022 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament which begins with the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.
After going a perfect 7-0 in MASCAC play, Westfield State earned the top spot in the 2022 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament which begins with the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.
The quarterfinal round begins on Tuesday with #4 Bridgewater State hosting #5 Salem State at 1 pm then #3 Worcester State hosting #6 Mass. Maritime at 6 pm. The winner of Bridgewater State/Salem State will travel to top seed Westfield State for the semifinals on Thursday at 7 pm while the winner of Worcester State/Mass. Maritime heads to #2 Framingham State for a 7 pm start.
The semifinal winners will then meet on Saturday for the MASCAC Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
2021 Tournament Champions Westfield State look to repeat after they earned the number one seed in this year's tournament and a first round bye. They were 7-0 at the end of MASCAC competition. Goalkeeper Kate Banagan was in the top five of the conference in several categories, including save percentage (57.4), goals against average (8.74), goals against (69) and wins with five while also collecting 93 saves on the year. Teammate Emma Cretella scored goals with 16 assists plus 44 draws, 31 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers to help the Owls claim first place in the league.
Earning the other first round bye with the number two seed was Framingham State. The Rams closed out league play with a 6-1 mark. Attack Hannah Guerin ended the regular season second in the MASCAC in both goals and points with 55 and 80, respectively. She also collected 25 assists with 74 shots on goal, 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers.
Hosting a quarterfinal contest is Worcester State with the three seed after finishing 5-2 in conference action. Claire Conway led the way for the Lancers netting 47 goals and eight assists this season. She finished second in the league in shots on goal and shots with 82 and 105, respectively. She also collected 28 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers.
The other quarterfinal host is Bridgewater State. The Bears earned the number four seed with a 4-3 record in MASCAC competition. Defender Delaney Langton tied for first on the team with 32 goals while filling out the stat sheet with 49 draw controls, 30 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and six assists.
Rounding on this year's tournament field is Salem State and Mass. Maritime with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. For the Vikings who had three wins, Suzanne Stefanik had the fifth most assists in the league with 24 while collecting 15 goals of her own. She also had 52 ground balls, 40 draw controls and 30 caused turnovers. For Mass. Maritime, Alyssa DiScipio led the conference in several categories, including goals (68), shots (140), shots on goal (108), draw controls (87), ground balls (67) and free position goals-shots (24-46).
During last year's championship, Westfield State defeated Framingham State 14-13 on a late free position shot goal to give the Owls their fourth straight MASCAC title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.