Bright Heads Home Late Goal, Owls Draw Emerson 2-2

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Cairn Bright (Belchertown, Mass.) found the equalizer with 1:34 left in the match as the Owls tied Emerson College 2-2 in a non-conference contest from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass. on Tuesday night.

Bright's goal was set up on a second effort from a corner kick as an initial service from Dylan Wesley (Agawam, Mass.) was batted away by the Lions with the ball careening back to the corner, allowing Wesley to deliver a second ball into the box. The cross was directly into the center of the penalty area, finding the head of Bright who battled a defender and redirected the pass into the upper lefthand corner of the goal for the tie.

The Owls were forced to overcome a two-goal deficit after a pair of first half goals from Emerson. The Lions struck 1:17 into the match off a corner kick. Diego Garcia-Ocampo (Ventura, Calif.) served the ball towards the near side of the penalty area, where the ball was then sent to Alex Lucas (Broomfield, Colo.) whose shot was blocked with the rebound bouncing high in the air near the top of the goalie box where Kyler Maira (Acton, Mass.) headed home the goal.

Emerson doubled their lead halfway through the period with Garcia-Ocampo lofting a long ball downfield which was chased down by Jason Karas (Middleton, Mass.) and fired into the upper right part of the net.

Westfield had several scoring chances in the latter third of the first half, including a trio of shots: the first a shot from Owen Klatka (Pittsfield, Mass.) on a run from the midfield with his shot saved by a sliding Asa Roberts (Guilford, Conn.) who came out aggressively at the top of the box. The ball kicked towards Cooper Garbiel-Achorn (Holyoke, Mass.) who launched a return shot that was blocked by Daniel Bede (Framingham, Mass.). With the ball still loose, Garbiel-Achorn obtained possession and immediately directed another shot on goal that would have gone in had Bede not been there to tally a defensive save to keep the Lions ahead 2-0.

A defensive misplay in the Lions defensive end resulted in Klatka getting behind Roberts, making a move around an Emerson defender before tapping a shot into the open net to cut the Emerson lead to one goal.

Both teams had chances prior to the late equalizer from Bright including a near miss from Emerson's Nick Mirogiannis (Reading, Mass.) who fired a low shot that hit the left goalpost then bounced out of play.

In the 83^rd minute, with the Owls still in search of a goal, Nick Parakilas (Broad Brook, Conn.) had a high danger scoring chance with his shot rising above the bar.

Westfield outshot Emerson 19-13 on the match with Roberts making two saves for Emerson. Luke Theroux (Chicopee, Mass.) got the start in net for the Owls, recording three saves. Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) entered in the second half and made two saves.

Westfield State will be back in action at the end of the week as the Owls visit Mass. Maritime for a MASCAC matchup on Friday at 7:00 P.M.