WESTFIELD. Mass. -- Senior Meg Gearin (Groton, MA) had the game-winning goal and an assist to lead Westfield State to a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Bridgewater State in a Massachusetts State College Atheltics Conference (MASCAC) ournament semifinal game on Wednesday evening, Nov. 4.
Westfield will host MCLA in the MASCAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 5:00 p.m., with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. MCLA won at Worcester State, 3-2, in the other semi-final game.
No. 1 seed Westfield is 15-1-2 with a non-losing streak of 17 straight games, including a 2-1 victory at MCLA last Saturday.
In the first half, the Owls had several strong scoring opportunities before finally getting on the scoreboard with 1:04 remaining in the stanza on a goal by junior Jill Ranney (Southwick); Gearin assisted on Ranney's fifth goal of the season.
Gearin scored on a scramble in front of the net in the 56th minute to give Westfield a 2-0 lead, and she set two single-season records with the game-winner. She now holds school records for goals (18) and points (40) in a season. The previous school record of 39 points was set in 1996 by Holly (Maines) McGovern, who is now the women's basketball head coach at MCLA.
Westfield had to hold on for the victory, however, as Bridgewater mounted a fierce offensive surge in the game's final 20 minutes. The Bears got on the scoreboard in the 77th minute on a beautiful header goal b senior defender Yasmina Carvalho (Brockton, MA) off a corner kick from junior midfielder Amanda Vigneault (Ludlow, MA).
Westfield out-shot Bridgewater, 15-13, but the Bears held a 9-5 advantage in the second half.
Sophomore goalie Jessica Pieciak (Three Rivers, MA) registered seven saves for Westfield, including several huge stops late in the game. Bridgewater keeper Kayla Grover (Haverhill) had eight saves.