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Top Seed Westfield State, Third Seed Framingham State to Meet in 2023 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Title Game

After winning their semifinal round contests on Thursday night, top seed Westfield State and third seed Framingham State are set to meet Saturday at noon in the 2023 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse title game.

Top Seed Westfield State, Third Seed Framingham State to Meet in 2023 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Title Game
May 4, 2023

After winning their semifinal round contests on Thursday night, top seed Westfield State and third seed Framingham State are set to meet Saturday at noon in the 2023 MASCAC Women's Lacrosse title game.

#1 Westfield State 21, #4 Worcester State 10    Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass.  – Seniors Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn./St. Paul's) and Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.) registered six points each for Westfield State as the top-seeded Owls powered away for a 21-10 win over #4 Worcester State in the semifinals of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's lacrosse tournament at Alumni Field on Thursday evening.

Westfield State is now 13-5 overall and has won 10 consecutive games, the second-longest win streak in school history.   Worcester State's season comes to a close with a 10-8 record.

Westfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening minute of the game, with Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) scoring on a feed from Victoria Paras (Medford, Mass.) just 18 seconds into the game, then after a Worcester State yellow card, Cretella fired a high laser under the crossbar on the ensuing extra-attacker situation.

Connolly added the Owls' third goal with 7:46 left in the first quarter to stake the Owls to a 3-0 lead and force a Lancers time out

Clare Conway (Billerica, Mass.) took the lid off the goal for Worcester State when Hannah Erickson (Dunstable, Mass.) fed her near the top of the fan with 2:20 left in the first quarter.    Westfield led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Westfield piled it on in the second quarter, scoring the first seven goals of the period including a spectacular leaping quick-stick goal from a fully-outstretched Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) that made it 7-2 on a feed from Emma Prattson (Tolland, Conn.) with 9:26 left in the quarter.

The Owls' lead burgeoned to as many as eight goals at 10-2, but Worcester answered with three consecutive goals of their own, capped by back-to-back goals from McKayla Fisher (Peabody, Mass.) with 1:59 left in the half to keep the Lancers' in touch with the Owls.

Westfield wasn't done, netting back to back markers in the final minute with Paras and Cretella credited to give the Owls a 12-5 lead at the half.

Westfield's Prattson ripped a shot off a feed from Connolly to get the lead to 16-6 to get to running-clock time with 9:19 left in the third quarter

Conway scored as time expired in the third quarter to cut the Owls lead to 19-7, but Westfield maintained it's advantage and went into a stall late.

Molly Witkowski (Port Jervis, N.Y.) scored with six seconds left in regulation for the Lancers for the final 21-10 margin.

The Owls were led by four goals and two assists from Cretella and three goals and three assists from Connolly.  Prattson added three goals and two assists, and Cassidy Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) added four goals.

Westfield held a commanding 35-25 advantage in total shots, and a 21-11 margin in ground balls.

Westfield's Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, NY)  made 10 saves in goal, while Savanna Rosado (Milford, Mass.)  finished with nine for Worcester State.

Worcester got three goals and an assist from Fisher, and two goals and an assist from Conway.

Westfield will host #3 Framingham State (12-7) in the league's championship game on Saturday on noon at Alumni Field.  The Rams scored a mild upset over #2 Bridgewater (10-8) by a 15-8 score tonight.

The Owls will be seeking their fifth MASCAC tournament title, having won in 2017-19 and in 2021.

 

#3 Framingham State 15, #2 Bridgewater State 8    Box Score

Bridgewater, Mass. - The third seed Framingham State University women's lacrosse team advanced to the championship game of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament after defeating second seed Bridgewater State University 15-8 in one semifinal at Swenson Field. 

THE BASICS: 

- Scores:  Framingham State 15, Westfield State 8 

- Records:  Framingham State (12-7), Bridgewater State (10-8)  

- Location:  Swenson Field – Bridgewater, Mass. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

  • Molly Lanier paced the visitors with five goals and two assists to go along with three draw controls, while Regan Fein checked in with five goals and five draw controls.  

  • Camryn Gonsalves led Bridgewater State with three goals and a helper. Delaney Langton added a pair of goals and a game-high eight draw controls for the Bears.  

  • Framingham rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to lead 5-3 after one quarter of play. Fein and Lanier each scored twice for the Rams in the opening period. Both teams found the back of the net twice in the second quarter as the visitors took a 7-5 advantage into the break.  

  • Fein and Lanier led all players with three goals apiece over the first 20 minutes, while Gonsalves and Erin McIntyre each potted a pair for the Bears. 

  • The Rams netted the first five goals of the second half with Lanier having a hand in four of the five strikes with two goals and two assists. Lanier assisted on a Rachel Erickson tally with 4:53 remaining in the third quarter to cap off the 5-0 run and give the visitors a 12-5 lead. 

  • Trailing 13-6 with under nine minutes left to the play in the final period, the Bears received back-to-back goals from Langton and Gonsalves to cut the deficit to five (13-8) with 7:51 showing on the scoreboard. Bridgewater, however, would not score again. Hannah Guerin and Fein closed out the scoring for the Rams to account for the final tally of 15-8. 

  • Isabella DiMare turned aside ten shots to record her fifth win of the season between the pipes for the Rams. BSU netminder Olivia Kerrigan made 11 saves in relief of starter Laura Giovaniello. Giovaniello played the first 15 minutes and recorded a pair of saves.  

 UP NEXT: 

With the win, the Rams advance to the finals where they will face top-seeded Westfield State on Saturday in Westfield at 12 p.m. 

From Westfield State Athletics – Spectators for Saturday are advised to arrive early as they may encounter additional traffic due to multiple events in Westfield, and should expect that portions of Western Avenue will be closed between 12:30 and 2 p.m. due to the Run Westfield road race. 

 Releases courtesy of Framingham State and Westfield State Sports Information