Third Seeded Westfield State, Fourth Seeded Bridgewater State Advance In 2012 MASCAC Men's Soccer Championships

Third-seeded Westfield State and fourth-seeded Bridgewater State advanced to the semi-final round of the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championships, as the Owls and Bears notched respective quarterfinal round triumphs over sixth-seeded Fitchburg State and fifth-seeded Worcester State on Wednesday

October 31, 2012

Click here for Westfield State-Fitchburg State box score

Click here for Bridgewater State-Worcester State box score

Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior midfielder Jon Principato (Stoneham) scored the game-winning goal to lift Westfield State University to a 1-0 victory over Fitchburg State University in the quarterfinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men’s soccer tournament.

Westfield, 8-9-1 overall with three straight shutout victories, advances to the MASCAC semifinal round where it will play at No. 2 seed Framingham State on Friday, Nov. 2, at 2:00 p.m. Westfield is the No. 3 seed after finishing with a 5-2 MASCAC regular season record.

Fitchburg, which gained the sixth and final spot in the tournament after upsetting No. 1 seed Salem State this past Saturday, finishes with a 5-11-2 overall record.

Principato’s game winner came in the 24^th minute and was his team leading fourth goal this season. Principato blasted a straightaway shot from 30 yards that scraped the crossbar and dropped into the back of the net.

Westfield outshot Fitchburg, 17-10, and led in the corner kicks, 9-3. However, two of Fitchburg’s corners came in the frantic final seconds of the game.

Just prior to the corners, the Falcons had a huge opportunity to tie the score when they received a direct kick from their own 40 with 47 seconds remaining. Fitchburg goalie Aidan Hanratty, who was booming punts the entire game, took the free kick and rocketed the ball 65 yards in the air. Owl keeper Kris Carrington got lost in the large crowd of players near the goal mouth and was out of position to receive the 65-yard smash.

But Westfield’s Bill Reagan came out of the goal mouth to clear the ball just in time.

Fitchburg also had a major scoring threat thwarted early in the second half when Carrington stopped a point blank shot for one of his four saves. Hanratty finished with two saves.

Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The fourth seeded Bridgewater State University Bears posted a 2-1 victory over number five Worcester State University in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 MASCAC Men’s Soccer Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Swenson Field.

The host Bears improve to 9-8-1 on the season with the win and will now advance to the tournament semifinals. Bridgewater will take on top-seeded Salem State University on Friday night at seven in Salem. Worcester ends the season with an overall mark of 4-11-2. The two teams were meeting in the conference tournament for the first time since the 2004 season as the Bears are 2-3 all-time versus the Lancers in tournament play.

Junior forward Craig Shadduck (Braintree, Mass.) opened the scoring for the hosts in the 24^th minute as he scored off his own rebound with a shot from the right side of the six.

Leading 1-0 at the intermission, the Bears took a two-goal lead just a minute and ten seconds into the second half as senior midfielder Tucker Fairbanks (Plympton, Mass.) notched his first goal of the season. Stationed near the goal line, Fairbanks headed in the rebound of a Jose DePina (Boston, Mass.) shot.

Worcester cut the deficit to 2-1 as junior forward Brendan Whitson (Auburn, Mass.) scored on a breakaway in the 65^th minute off a long through ball sent in by classmate Alex Wolfel (Unionville, Conn.).

The Bears outshot the Lancers by a margin of 20-9, while corner kicks were even at two apiece.

BSU junior netminder Matt Bagley (Braintree, Mass.) turned aside three shots to record his ninth win of the season. Freshman Tim Schmidt (Southwick, Mass.) made seven saves between the pipes for the visitors.