Worcester, MA- Worcester State Women's Soccer came out ready to own the pitch on Tuesday night as they squared off against Keene St in a drizzly but determined matchup between the two teams. The Lancers were coming off their first win of the season, as they defeated MCLA Saturday at Coughlin Field. The Lancers, still feeling the sting of last years 2-2 tie, wanted to be sure to maintain a solid possession of the ball all evening.
The Lancers started with determination in the first half even as the teams battled it back and forth. Worcester State had the two-shot edge over Keene in the first half and those two shots were the difference makers. In the 31' minute senior Haley Mignon (Tewksbury, MA) received the ball off a throw in, where she eventually popped the ball around two defenders before rocketing the ball to the top right corner passed Keene State goalie Sonia Moritz. Quickly following their first goal, a shot by first year Erin Condon (East Bridgewater, MA) knocked off the crossbar before dropping into the diving head of sophomore Raelyn Callahan (Pepperell, MA) who sent the ball dead center in the cage to extend the lead to two. The final minutes ticked away with each team traversing the field but Worcester State goalie first year Mallory Dupuis (Leominster, MA) broke apart a number of threats by Keene to maintain the shut out into the half.
As the rain picked up during the second half so did the pace of play for both teams. At nearly 10 minutes into the half, it appeared Worcester State was going to go ahead by three when Mignon nabbed a corner kick and sent the ball straight to the back of the net. A Late offside call on the play took the goal of the board and Worcester State only up by two. Senior Allison Marrier (Dudley, MA) was unbeatable on defense through the half, breaking up pays left and right as the play got further bogged down by water and exhaustion as the final minutes were ticking up. The final 45 again saw Worcester out shoot Keene by a margin of 6-5, with the one goal again being the separator in the half. A late corner in the 79' minute brought senior Hailey Skowronski (Douglas, MA) to the flag where she sailed a pass to the opposite end of the cage to find the head of Condon to bring Worcester's goal total to three, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
The Lancers place a total of 13 shots on cage, with Condon leading the team with four on the night. Dupuis made two saves in the second shout in a row for Worcester State. The Lancers now move to 2-4-1 on the season while Keene St. falls to 4-3-1.
The Blue and Gold are back in action on Thursday when they travel to Curry College for a 7pm pass back.