After winning their thrilling games on Thursday night, Bridgewater State and Westfield State are set to meet in the MASCAC Field Hockey title game on Saturday.

#5 Bridgewater State 1, #1 Fitchburg State 0   Box Score

The Bridgewater State University field hockey team has advanced to a conference championship game for the first time since 2010.

The fifth-seeded Bears upset top-seeded Fitchburg State University, 1-0, at Elliot Field on Thursday night, moving them into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

BSU will be on the road for a third tourney game in a row when it faces top-seeded Westfield State University on Saturday evening (5:00 PM) for the championship and a spot in the NCAA Division 3 tourney.

The Bears (10-10) reached double figures in wins for the first time since going 11-7 in 2016.

A pair of sophomores -- Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.) from Madison Ellis (Attleboro, Mass.) -- combined for the game's lone goal in the first period.

Junior goalkeeper Brianna Gagnon (Tewksbury, Mass.) earned her third shutout of the season for BSU.

Fitchburg State (10-9) finished first in the regular season with an 8-2 record and defeated the Bears twice.

The last time BSU made it to a title game was in the Little East tournament 14 years ago. The Bears lost to UMass Dartmouth, 3-1, on Nov. 7, 2010.

The Bears have been playing field hockey in the MASCAC for two seasons after moving from the Little East.

Zuber's goal came just 5:39 into the game as she redirected a shot while in front of the net. Ellis had sent the ball in from the right side from well outside the circle for her second assist of the season.

The goal gives Zuber the team lead in points with 28 and she is second with nine goals.

Fitchburg appeared to have tied the game with 4:14 remaining in the second quarter as the Falcons were awarded a penalty stroke after BSU senior defender Noelle Cornetta (Hanson, Mass.) saved a sure goal. Junior Samantha Yates (Woodstock, Vt.) buried the stroke attempt into the top left corner of the net, but the goal was waved off by the official.

Gagnon finished with seven saves to backstop the Bears to the shutout victory.

The Falcons had a 12-10 edge in shots and the Bears held a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal. Bridgewater also finished with an 8-3 edge in penalty corner attempts.

Fitchburg State had not been shut out since losing to Clark University, 1-0, in overtime on Sept. 7.

Falcons senior goalkeeper Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) stopped eight shots. Junior Lexi James (Ipswich, Mass.) led BSU with three shots on goal while Zuber and Raegen Perry (Nantucket, Mass.) had two each.

BSU opened the tournament with a 4-1 win at fourth-seeded Framingham State on Tuesday night, the program's first postseason win since defeating Worcester State in the quarterfinal round of the Little East tourney in 2016.

The Bears finished with a 4-6 MASCAC record this season, four games behind the first-place Falcons.

Fitchburg State defeated BSU twice, 5-0, on Oct. 12 in Bridgewater and 4-2 last Saturday. In that game, the Bears cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 in the second half.

BSU split the season series with Saturday's championship round opponent, second-seeded Westfield State. The Bears lost on the road, 4-0, Oct. 5 and won at home, 5-0, on Oct. 30.

#2 Westfield State 1, #3 Worcester State   Box Score

It turns out the 17^th time is the charm.   Westfield State's Erin Lane (Canton, Mass.) scored the lone goal of the match on a blast from the top of the circle on Westfield's 17^th penalty corner of the game to give the Owls a 1-0 win over Worcester State in the MASCAC Field Hockey semifinals at Alumni Field on Thursday night.

With the win, #2 seed Westfield State (12-8) will now host the conference championship game against #5 Bridgewater State at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday at Alumni Field.

Bridgewater upset top-seeded Fitchburg State in the other semifinal game tonight, clearing the path for the Owls to host.

With the win, Westfield matches the school-record for wins in a season with 12, set in 1996 and matched in 2011 and again last year.

Little separated the Owls and Lancers (8-11) all season, and again tonight.

Westfield peppered Worcester for 17 penalty corners and 14 shots on goal, all saved by Lancers' goalie Madison Ferrara (Somerset, Mass.) until lane struck with 2:32 left in regulation.

Senior Leah Pierce (Barnstable, Mass.) inserted the penalty corner from the left side of the cage, and found classmate Abby Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) for a stick stop at the top of the circle.  Lane stepped into a slapshot that ricocheted off the stick of a Lancers defender, and carried over the head of Ferrara into the back netting for the decisive goal.

The two teams had back and forth action all night.

The Lancers missed a golden scoring opportunity midway through the second quarter when Natalya Morin (Barre, Mass.) drove the right endline and fired a dangerous cross across the goal mouth that nearly found teammate Rhianna Morin (Burrellville, RI) crashing the cage, but the ball hopped over the stick and the chance slid by the boards.

After a scoreless opening half, Worcester ratcheted up their offensive pressure early in the half, rattling off five shots on goal, all saved by Westfield State keeper Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) in the first eight minutes of the half.

Gniadek finished with 10 saves.  The two keepers exchanged saves throughout the first three periods, before Westfield finally found an edge in the fourth quarter.  In one series, the Owls had four straight penalty corners, and the Owls out cornered the Lancers 6-0 in the final frame.

For Gniadek it was the fourth shutout of the season.

After the Lane goal, Worcester was not able to muster a shot for a tying goal, as the Owls maintained possession for the final minute and a half working the sideline to protect the lead.

Saturday's game will be the Owls first appearance in a conference championship game since 2017, and quite possibly the biggest game for Westfield on the Alumni Field turf since the Owls hosted the inaugural NCAA Division III final four in 1981.

The winner of the Westfield State – Bridgewater State title game on Saturday will secure the league champion's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and Westfield State Sports Information