Women's Lacrosse Wins NCAA Tourney Opener

GENEVA, N.Y. - The first time was the charm for Westfield State in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Division III women's lacrosse national championship tournament, as the Owls posted a 15-8 win over Castleton University in Westfield's inaugural bow in the NCAA's at Boswell Field on the campus of William Smith College on Saturday afternoon.

"It's extremely exciting," said Westfield State head coach Jeff Pechulis. "Castleton was as tough as we thought, and they were a good group to play. The NCAA tournament is everything we imagined, everyone has treated us great and made it easy for us to get pumped up to play."

With the win Westfield State (14-5) advances to play the host Herons of William Smith College (18-1), the number six ranked team in the nation in this week's IWLCA poll.

Westfield State sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the first 7:08 of the contest. Marissa Nimeskern (Hanover, Mass.) got the Owls on the board 1:12 into the game, driving to the cage from the left side. The Owls made it 2-0 as Sam Coyle (Weymouth, Mass.) fed Stephanie Godek (West Springfield, Mass.) from the right side, then Alexa Tonelli (Shrewbury, Mass.) converted off of Brooke Williams' (Minnechaug HS/Wilbraham, Mass.) feed from behind the cage to give the Owls a 3-0 lead that forced Castleton to call timeout with 22:52 left in the half.

Castleton finally got on the board after the timeout, winning the draw and then Nadine Downing fed Emily Cross at the side of the cage for the goals.

Westfield built the lead to as many as five goals, leading 8-3 after Williams converted back to back goals, the second off of a left side pass from Tonelli with 2:56 left in the half.

Castleton chipped the lead back down to 8-4 as Downing scored with a sidearm shot off a pass from Tiffany Danyow inside of the fan in traffic.

Spartans' goalkeeper Samantha Hebb kept the game in reach in the first half with eight saves, several on grade-A scoring chances for the Owls, and Westfield shooters hit the pipes on three occasions.

Westfield controlled possession for the first half, forcing 16 Spartans turnovers, and the Owls broke 12 of the Spartans 18 clear attempts.

"A huge part of our game plan was to make them work for every yard of turf, and the whole game from defense to transition to offense, we got a complete team effort," said Pechulis.

Westfield started the second half with similar momentum, netting the first three goals of the half with markers from Sydney Lambert (Hanover, Mass.), Liz Navoni (Mansfield, Mass.) and Godek in the first four minutes of the stanza for an 11-5 Owls led.

Castleton regained a shard of momentum with pair of goals that cut the lead to 11-6, but in a key sequence with 17 minutes left in the half, Westfield denied Castleton's Danyow on a free position attempt when a defender checked the ball away for a turnover, then Westfield's Hunter Zackaricz (Hampshire Regional/ Southampton, Mass.) tallied on a free position of her own on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 12-6. Coyle won the draw control after the Zackaricz goal, and Coyle carried the ball down the right side and all the way to the cage for a goal that gave Westfield a commanding 13-6 lead with less than 16 minutes to play.

"A big focus of ours is to prevent momentum, and limit teams to two goals in a row, and we were able to do it there. The defense, played great, talked and played as a team," said Pechulis.

Williams led the Owls in scoring with three goals and two assists.

"Hats off to the players who come off of the bench for us," said Pechulis. "Brooke did every single thing we could have asked for today and she gets three goals on three shots, and Hunter Zackaricz came in and did a great job as well," said Pechulis. "We had eight players score goals, and got assists on 11 of the goals which really reflects the team effort.

Navoni added three goals and Coyle finished with a goal and three assists. Maria Woodall (King Phillip/ Norfolk, Mass.) made two saves in the first half in staking the Owls to the lead, while Alanah Melanson (Chelmsford, Mass.) came on in goal at halftime, as has been the Owls' custom all season, and made three saves.

Danyow led Castleton with three goals and two assists. Hebb had 17 saves, as Westfield uncorked 48 total shots in the game, 32 on net, compared to the Spartans 15 shots and 13 on net.

Westfield State had a 33-23 advantage in ground balls, and a 13-11 lead in draw controls. The Spartans were just 14-29 on clear attempts, while Westfield finished 16-21. Castleton committed 32 turnovers to Westfield's 19.

The Owls tie a school record with 14 wins, matching the season total from a year ago.

Castleton's season ends at 12-7. The Spartans had advanced to the NCAA by winning the NAC tournament, and had won 10 straight games entering the NCAA tourney. The Spartans played somewhat shorthanded, as leading scorer Grace Johnson was among several players who did not make the trip. CU brought just two reserve field players and one reserve goalkeeper.

Westfield State is making it's first-ever appearance in the women's lacrosse NCAA tournament. The Owls' program has made rapid strides in the 11-year history of the program, appearing in the MASCAC championship game in four of the last five season, winning the conference tournament title this year.

"We expect a hard game tomorrow," said Pechulis. "We know William Smith has a great team and can play at a high level, but anything can happen in the tournament, and you have to be ready for it. We know we can play at a high level as well, and we don't think that we have a glaring weakness."

The Owls and Herons have a common opponent this season in Nazareth College. Westfield fell to Nazareth by a 15-9 score in Florida very early in the season, while William Smith defeated Nazareth 17-10 early in the season.