Westfield State got goals from Ryan Morais and Noel Powell, and Nick Chambers pitched a shotout in goal as the Owls topped Mass Maritime, 2-0 in Buzzards Bay on Friday night.
The Owls improve to 3-4 in the conference and clinched a MASCAC tournament berth with the win. The Owls will learn their opponent, site and time tomorrow once all the conference games are finished. The Owls will play an opening round game on Tuesday.
Mass Maritime slips to 1-5-1 in conference play and was eliminated from conference tournament contention.
Morais ut the Owls on the scoreboard first, as he was in the right spot at the right time when MMA goalkeeper John Murphy booted the ball from inside the 18 and Morais was standing in front of the kick, heading it in to the back of the net from just outside the 18 yard box.
In the 41st minute the Owls extended their lead to two goals. With some fancy footwork Powell dribbled around a handful of Buccaneer defenders and tucked a shot in to the top right corner past Murphy.
In an attempt to make a comeback, the Buccaneers outshot the Owls in the second half 10-5. The Maritime defense was on point as they didn't allow Westfield to extend their lead but were also unable to break through the Owl back line to make a dent on the scoreboard.
Chambers finished with five saves in posting the clean sheet.