Men’s Soccer Heads East for MASCAC Semifinal at Mass. Maritime

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's soccer will travel to Mass. Maritime Academy for a MASCAC semifinal match on Friday at 7:00 P.M. from Buzzards Bay, Mass.

The winner of Friday's match will advance into the conference championship match on Sunday to face the victor of top-seeded Bridgewater State and fourth-seeded Salem State.

The Owls and Bucs played to a 1-1 draw at Mass. Maritime on October 3. Brody Calvert opened the game's scoring just 5:12 into the match before Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) rocketed home the tying goal with less than ten to play in regulation. Westfield outshot Mass. Maritime 20-1l, including 14 second-half shots.

Westfield (10-3-4) advanced into the semifinals after a 3-0 victory over sixth-seeded Worcester State on Wednesday night. Westfield scored all three markers in the second half with Dylan Wesley (Agawam, Mass.) tallying the first goal. Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) and Carter Daughdrill (Easthampton, Mass.) both delivered their first goals of the year at an important time to give the Owls separation.

Mass. Maritime received a first round bye after recording a 5-1-2 conference record (10-4-3 overall). The Buccaneers won the tiebreaker over the Owls with their win against Bridgewater State. Calvert enters the conference tournament as the third leading goal scorer in the league with 14.

Two of the top goalkeepers in the league will be on display in the match in sophomores' Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Preston Joia. Kononenko recorded four saves in a shutout performance in the conference quarterfinals as he leads the MASCAC in goals against and save percentage. Joia owns the second lowest goals against at 1.02 for the Buccaneers.

Video and live stats of the game will be available at WestfieldStateOwls.com.