Owls Break Through in Second Half to Advance to MASCAC Semifinals

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Dylan Wesley (Agawam, Mass.) scored the first of three second half goals as the third-seeded Owls pulled away from sixth-seeded Worcester State 3-0 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinal match from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass. on Wednesday night.

The Owls (10-3-4) advance into the MASCAC semifinals where they will travel to second-seeded Mass. Maritime on Friday at 7:00 P.M. from Buzzards Bay, Mass. Westfield reaches the double-digit victory mark for the first time since 2011 after the winning result. The Lancers season comes to a close, finishing with an overall mark of 5-11-1.

On the Owls 21^st shot of the match, Westfield was able to break a scoreless tie with Wesley maneuvering through a pair of Lancers defenders at the edge of the box, splitting both before blasting a low left-footed shot past the diving Tobias Schneider (Hudson, Wisc.) for a 1-0 lead with 35:13 left in regulation.

Westfield was able to double their advantage in the 70^th minute buoyed by the return of senior captain Sonny Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) who possessed and shielded the ball from a Worcester defender up the far sideline, sliding a pass between two Worcester players to the feet of Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Mass.) who deposited a low shot inside the far post for a 2-0 lead with 20:57 to go. Mazza missed five games late in the season due to injury before returning to action in the regular season finale against MCLA as a tune-up before the playoffs.

The Owls managed to put the game out of reach with a third goal with just over ten to play with Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) juggling a centering pass before leaving it for Carter Daughdrill (Easthampton, Mass.) who chipped a high shot that was batted in the air by Schneider, but over his head and into the net with 10:46 remaining.

The Lancers generated a few chances in the second half after one shot in the first. In an effort to find the equalizer, their best chance coming from Brian Arias (Pawtucket, R.I.) who took the space in front of him before taking a shot from about 20 yards out that was saved by Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) moving to his left. Then trailing by two goals, Wilber Garcia (Bilbao, Spain) teed up a look from just outside the penalty area, sailing high and over the bar.

Westfield had a plethora of scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes, outshooting the Lancers 14-1 while attempting seven corners to Worcester's zero.

The Owls nearly found the back of the net with about 23 minutes remaining in the first half. Tkacz hooked a crossing pass into the box where Charlie Anischik (South Hadley, Mass.) headed the ball to the far post, past Schneider but not by defender Braiden Corbett (South Kingstown, R.I.) who kicked the ball off the back line and away from the goal. A return shot followed from Ethan Margolis (Wakefield, Mass.) who drilled a low shot that forced Schneider to make a diving stop to his left.

Another high danger scoring chance followed with under 20 remaining in the half after a cross from Aidan Ferguson (Augsburg, Germany) resulted in a header by Nick Parakilas (Broad Brook, Conn.) which flew just above the crossbar and out of play. Parakilas had another opportunity with 11:30 left in the period when the ball found him in a swarm of players, rocketing a right-footed shot over the bar.

Minutes later, Tkacz touched a pass to Paul Whalley (Southwick, Mass.) who gathered possession and unloaded a low shot which was swatted off the back line by Schneider. Schneider recorded seven first-half saves to keep the Lancers even at the break.

The lone Lancers shot came with 1:50 left in the first, with Garcia corralling the ball and taking a shot that was partially blocked by Dominic Cirelli (Springfield, Mass.), falling into the hands of Kononenko who came off his line to grab the ball out of midair.

The Owls had a 30-10 shot advantage in the match with Kononenko stopping all four shots faced to secure the shutout. Schneider was terrific in goal for Worcester, making 12 saves.

Westfield will play at Mass. Maritime with a spot in the MASCAC Championship game on the line on Friday night. Be sure to visit WestfieldStateOwls.com for further men's soccer tournament updates.