Mazza Scores Late Goal as Owls Secure Draw at Plymouth

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Sonny Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored the game-tying goal with 8:05 remaining in the match as the Owls secured a 1-1 draw against Plymouth State in a non-conference road contest from Plymouth, N.H. on Tuesday afternoon.

The Owls now stand at 4-3-1 on the season while the Panthers receive their second consecutive draw, moving to 3-3-2 overall.

After a scoreless first half, a defensive miscue from Westfield led to the first goal of the match as Massimo Korcsog's (Ottawa, Ontario) pass upfield got past a pair of Owls, leaving Faisal Abdallah (Accra, Ghana) alone with Owls keeper Luke Theroux (Chicopee, Mass.). Abdallah then directed a low shot to the left of a sliding Theroux for the lead with 20:51 left in regulation.

With less than ten minutes to play in the game, Mazza tracked down a pass upfield, saving the ball on the end line to maintain possession. Charlie Anischik (South Hadley, Mass.) followed behind Mazza and controlled the ball, crossing a pass to the opposite side of the penalty box to Ryan Viana (Framingham, Mass.) who settled the ball and angled a pass into the middle of the box to a crashing Mazza who one-timed home the equalizer with 8:05 left in the game.

The Owls ramped up the offensive pressure for the remaining eight minutes of the game, nearly scoring on three different occasions. A quick offensive attack started off a goal kick from Theroux who fired the ball past midfield and off the head of both Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) and Anischik, setting up a runout for Matias Otero (Rye Brook, N.Y.).

Otero tracked down the downfield pass, then launched a high shot that clipped the bottom of the crossbar, ricocheting down and into the middle of the box to the foot of Anischik who's follow-up shot was blocked by a Panthers defender. The blocked shot deflected straight back to Anischik whose second shot attempt passed wide of the net, ending a flurry of scoring chances for Westfield.

With three minutes left in the game, Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) lofted a pass from the sideline into the box with the ball bouncing dangerously towards Panthers goalkeeper Kole Matta (Castleton, Vt.) who was unable to corral the ball, eventually finding Anischik but his shot was wide of traffic in front of the net.

Theroux entered in the second half after Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) started the first half in net for the Owls. Matta was battered with shots throughout the match particularly in the second half where the Owls outshot the Panthers 12-6 where Matta tallied five of his eight saves on the afternoon. Westfield outshot Plymouth 17-13 for the game.

Westfield State will enter back into MASCAC play this weekend as the Owls visit Worcester State on Saturday at 11:00 A.M.