Murphy Nets Hat Trick as Owls Hold Off Corsairs, 4-3

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Westfield State University got a hat trick from Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) to emerge with a 4-3 non-conference win over UMass Dartmouth in the Owls home opener at Alumni Field on Saturday.

Westfield fell behind 1-0 in the 20^th minute as Jenna Carvalho (Westport, Mass.) tallied an unassisted goal for the Corsairs.

Murphy netted the first of her three goals just over a minute later, as Erin Murphy (Auburn, Mass.) carried the ball to the top of the circle on the right side, and let a shot fly that was tipped past UMD GK Hannah Trombly (Foxborough, Mass.) by Murphy.

Westfield added a second marker before the period was out, as off a penalty corner play Erin Lane (Canton, Mass.) reloaded the ball into the goal mouth from the left side, and Meredith Higgins (Enfield, Conn.) tipped it in for a 2-1 Owls lead with 5:11 left in the first half.

Mass Dartmouth answered 4:31 into the third quarter with Carvalho feeding Maggie McCafferty (West Bridgewater, Mass.) in the middle of the circle on a penalty corner for a 2-2 tie.

Westfield threatened to pull away with back to back goals from Murphy to build the lead to 4-2 with 10:29 left in regulation, but Mass-Dartmouth pulled within a goal late, scoring on the third of three consecutive penalty corners as Sophia Bouffard (South Burlington, Vt.) inserted from the left side to Kayla Crai (Nyack, N.Y.) on the wing, who spun and fired a shot for the goal to trim the lead to 4-3 with 4:50 left in regulation.

Westfield was able to while away the final four minutes without a serious scoring threat from the Corsairs to preserve the win.

Erin Murphy finished with a goal and an assist for the Owls, who got eight saves from junior GK Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.).  

UMD split the game in goal with Hanna Trombly and Shane Cueman (Glen Ridge, N.J.).  Trombly made two saves in the first half, while Cueman stopped seven shots in the second half.

UMass Dartmouth is now 2-2 on the season, with Westfield improving to 2-1.

Westfield will be back in action on Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. game against Mount Holyoke on Alumni Field.