Owls Race Past Lancers, 6-4

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State juniors' Nick Parakilas (Broad Brook, Conn.) and Dylan Wesley (Agawam, Mass.) both scored twice as the Owls scored the first six goals of the match to defeat Worcester State 6-4 in a MASCAC game from Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 6-3-3 on the season and 2-1-2 in the MASCAC while the Lancers fall to 5-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Westfield wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, then continued to dominate the first half of the match after tallying four goals in the opening 45.

Crafty passing to set up the first goal of the game off the foot of Wesley 4:19 into the match. Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) tracked down a pass from Cairn Bright (Belchertown, Mass.), letting the ball go between his legs before outracing a defender to the ball. He quickly pivoted and sent a pass into the box where Wesley maneuvered through three Lancers to tuck a shot past the sliding Tobias Schneider (Hudson, Wisc.) and into the net.

The Owls quickly doubled their advantage two minutes after the Wesley goal this time scored by a sliding Parakilas on a service from Ethan Margolis (Wakefield, Mass.) from the left corner of the field.

Schneider temporarily kept the game within reach after making a diving save to his left after a penalty kick from Wesley, but the Owls continued to push on the offensive, finding two additional goals in the middle third of the period. Parakilas possessed the ball into the top of the box, firing a shot that was blocked with the rebound finding Bright who laced a left-footed shot into the upper part of the net for a 3-0 lead.

The Owls poured on a fourth marker with about 15 to play in the half, with Parakilas connecting on a long service ball from Bright from about 35 yards out, ripping home his second of the match to escalate the lead to four goals.

In the second half, the offense opened up for both sides as the Lancers managed to score four times in the final period, but not after Westfield scored two more goals proving to be critical insurance markers. Wesley deposited a beautiful header goal off a pass from Parakilas to make it 5-0, then Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) tracked down a long punt from Aiden Ferguson (Augsburg, Germany) before drilling home the Owls final goal of the match.

Worcester continued to compete for the duration of the second half. Jacob Barcelos (East Providence, R.I.) netted the first goal for the Lancers, timing up his run then sneaking a shot past Luke Theroux (Chicopee, Mass.) for a 6-1 deficit.

Four minutes later, Ciledson Segundo (Norwood, Mass.) potted his second goal of the season, trimming the deficit to four goals.

In the final five minutes of the match, Jemal Mohamud (Worcester, Mass.) sparked a surprising late push for Worcester, teeing up a shot that crossed the goal line after deflecting off Theroux and the far post. 57 seconds later, Mohamud headed home a crossing ball from Dylan Verby (South Setauket, N.Y.) to make it a two-goal deficit with 1:57 remaining in regulation.

Despite the comeback effort, the Owls were able to kill the rest of the clock and hold onto what was originally a six goal Owls lead with just under 34 to play.

Westfield led in shots at a 27-19 mark, fueled by 17 first half shots which translated into four scores. Theroux made seven saves for the Owls while Schneider and Zach Nelson (Geneseo, Ill.) split time in net for Worcester.

Westfield State has a quick turnaround for their next match, travelling to Vermont State Castleton on Monday for a 7:00 P.M. match time.