Owls Draw Bridgewater in MASCAC Semifinals Thursday Night

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State women's lacrosse begins their quest for a MASCAC Championship on Thursday night as the second-seeded Owls host third-seeded Bridgewater State in a conference semifinal game at 7:00 P.M. from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls (9-8, 6-1 MASCAC) enter the postseason after receiving a first-round bye as the top two seeds in the tournament automatically advance into the semifinals. The Bears (8-10, 5-2 MASCAC) reach the semis after defeating sixth-seeded Salem State, 12-9, in a conference quarterfinal game on Tuesday night.

Westfield and Bridgewater met not long ago on April 11 as Christina Roncarati (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored four goals in a 10-8 Owls victory on Alumni Field. Both teams are looking to avenge semifinal exits from last season as the Owls lost in overtime to Framingham State while the Bears lost to eventual conference champion Worcester State.

Roncarati leads the MASCAC in goals scored with 59 and topped the 100-career goal mark during the regular season. Sophomore attacker Marena Morales (Tolland, Conn.) is third in the conference with 47 goals and is fourth in the league with 65 points. Morales scored three goals in the regular season win against the Bears.

In goal, the Owls have leaned on the play of senior goalkeeper Izzy Conley (North Salem, N.Y.) who enters the tournament leading the MASCAC with a 49.3 save percentage while also making 183 saves, the second highest number in the league. Conley stopped nine of 17 shots directed her way in the lone matchup versus Bridgewater this season.

Bridgewater travels to Westfield riding a five-game winning streak which has coincided with the hot stick of midfielder Meredith Sylvia who has moved into a tie for fourth in the conference with 43 goals scored. She is coming off a five-goal performance against Salem in the quarterfinal game, tying her highest output in a single game. She has registered multiple goals scored in seven of her last eight games and led the Bears with three goals versus Westfield.

Sophomore midfielder Sophia Fleurent has put together a strong season for the Bears as well, registering 32 goals and 18 assists for 50 points. In between the posts, sophomore Sara Skaff has held the lion's share of time, appearing in 18 games (17 starts) while holding an 11.25 goals against average and a 42.8 save percentage. She made seven saves for the Bears in the regular season meeting at Westfield.

An area worth watching in the game will be draws. The Bears more than doubled the Owls with 14 draw control wins compared to just six for Westfield, but strong goalkeeping and defense forced 16 Bridgewater turnovers to prevail in the end. The Owls were a perfect 20-for-20 in clears on the night as well. Both teams have won a similar number of draws overall this year with the Bears at 196 while the Owls sit at 186. Fleurent is tied for first in the conference with 90 draw control wins for the Bears.

The matchup figures to be of a low-scoring variety as the Bears and Owls have the two lowest goals against averages within league games with Bridgewater leading at 6.85 goals allowed per game while the Owls are right behind at 6.96.

The winner of tomorrow night's game will advance into the MASCAC Championship game and will play the winner of top-seeded Worcester State and fourth-seeded Framingham State (a rematch of last year's conference title game). The game will be played on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.