After winning their first round games on Tuesday, Bridgewater State and Worcester State are headed to the semifinal round of the MASCAC Field Hockey Tournament.

#3 Worcester State 5, #6 Salem State 2   Box Score

Worcester, MA- With the conclusion of the regular season , the MASCAC Playoffs began on Tuesday night. The third seed Worcester State Lancers (7-10, 6-4) welcomes four the fourth time in two years the Salem State Vikings (2-14, 0-10) to Coughlin Field. Earlier in the season Worcester would claim two wins off the Vikings, the first a 6-0 victory in mid-October before wrapping up the season in Salem just three days ago with a 4-1 win in Worcester's favor. This is the second season in a row the Vikings have met the Lancers in the playoffs after Salem upset Fitchburg State 4-3 last season in the MASCAC Quarterfinals to meet Worcester in the Semifinals. 

How it Happened:

Worcester and Salem State were very evenly matched in the opening period of action. Worcester would manage to string together a touch more offensive in the quarter as they recorded eight attempts on frame but the Viking keeper would limit any of the danger. Salem would have chances of their own, as they claimed two corners to the Lancers three in the first 15 but the pressure in the circle would see the attempts minimized.  

Salem came out firing in the second period less than five minutes in, sophomore Allison Thomas (Carver, MA) would put the ball into the back of the net with the assist from first year Grace Morey (Danvers, MA). After some back and forth in the midfield, Worcester would find a path to respond and to tie the score up with nine minutes left in the period,junior Maggie Nailor (Dartmouth, MA) would take a strong strike that would careen towards cage, stalling just shy of the line where senior Natalya Morin (Barre, MA) helped the ball find its way to the boards. With both teams battling hard, no further goals would leave the score tied up at half time 1-1. 

The third period would start much like the first, with both squads battling for control and having equal opportunities to score. Worcester State will be the first to score this period, after some chaos in front of Salem's net N. Morin would again guide the ball across the threshold off a pass from junior Allison Keenan (Marlborough MA), finding an opening and taking a shot making the score 2-1. Worcester was not done yet when junior Charlotte MacGregor (Bellingham, MA) drove it down the middle and took a shot sending the ball in 3-1. Within a minute Worcester was able to snag another point when senior Madison Avilla (Westport, MA) would make a hard pull right in the circle to avoid the defensive pressure, sending the ball sailing past the sophomore Izzy Mosley's (Middleborough, MA) right foot furthering their lead 4-1. 

This final period would see both teams come out strong and the Vikings looking to get themselves back into the action. Worcester was not ready to give up their offensive ways off chaos in the circle as first year Rihanna Morin (Burrillville, RI) would send the ball around Mosley and the defensive pressure with the help of MacGregor to extend the lead to 5-1. After a long and strong battle that would never see Salem concede, they managed to find their opportunity to score as Thomas scored her second point but as time clicked down Worcester would solidify their advancement and the 5-2 victory.

Mosley would end the night with 12 saves while senior Madison Ferrara would come away with two.

What is Next:

With tonight's conclusion Worcester State (8-10, 6-4) will advance to a meeting with #2 seed Westfield State at 7pm in the MASCAC Semifinal round on Thursday.

#5 Bridgewater State 4, #4 Framingam State 1  Box Score

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University field hockey team has advanced to the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The fifth-seeded Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period on the way to a 4-1 win over fourth-seeded Framingham State University in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night at Maple Street Field.

Freshman Samantha Souza (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored a pair of goals in the win while junior Lexi James (Ipswich, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist.

Freshman Kallie Rose (Dartmouth, Mass.) added a goal for the Bears who also received a pair of assists from junior Raegen Perry (Nantucket, Mass.).

BSU (9-10) will play at top-seeded Fitchburg State University (10-8) on Thursday at 6 p.m. with a spot in the championship game on the line.

The Bears had not won a postseason game since Oct. 29, 2016 when they won over Worcester State University, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round of the Little East Conference tourney.

BSU had lost six straight games to Framingham State (8-11), including a pair of one-goal decisions this season and a 3-2 loss in the MASCAC tourney a year ago.

Souza gave the Bears a 1-0 lead at 4:41 when she deflected the ball in after it had been sent to the far post by Perry.

James made it 2-0 in the second period, scoring her eighth goal at 16:31.

Perry stickhandled into the circle from the right side and slipped a centering pass to the front of the net and onto to the stick of James, who buried a shot inside the right post.

BSU took a 3-0 lead at 23:18 as Rose scored her third goal.

Sophomore Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.) sent a shot from just inside the circle towards the net. Rose deflected the shot (which was saved by the Framingham keeper), corralled the rebound and slipped a shot into the right side of the cage.

Framingham State got on the scoreboard before the end of the half with senior Kaylee Beck (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scoring her sixth goal from graduate student Angelina Serra (Chelmsford, Mass.) at 28:31.

The Bears added a goal off a penalty corner at the start of the final period when Souza registered her 12th goal, assisted by James at 45:55.

A shot by Madison Ellis (Attleboro, Mass.) by just outside the circle was deflected by James as the ball went right to Souza, who scored with the goalkeeper out of position.

Souza is now second in the MASCAC in goals.

BSU goalkeeper Brianna Gagnon (Tewksbury, Mass.) made four saves, all in the second half, to record the win.

Framingham State sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Tello (Nashua, N.H.) had two saves in the first half while freshman Rowan Whittaker (Rehoboth, Mass.) had no saves in the second half.

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and Worcester State Sports Information