Owls Clipped by Lancers in Overtime of MASCAC Championship

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Worcester State senior midfielder Mckayla Fisher scored the game-tying goal with 14 seconds left in regulation, then Madigan Kelly converted the overtime winner for the top-seeded Lancers which erased a three-goal deficit late in the fourth quarter to defeat second-seeded Westfield State 14-13 in the MASCAC Championship game from Coughlin Field in Worcester, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Lancers (14-5) win their second consecutive conference championship and receive the MASCAC's automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Owls, playing in their third MASCAC title game over the last four seasons, finish the season with an overall record of 10-9.

Worcester won the draw to begin overtime and worked the ball to the front of the net where a shot low shot from Kelly was saved by Owls goalkeeper Izzy Conley (North Salem, N.Y.). The Owls picked up the ground ball and briefly gained possession before a swarm of Worcester players were able to knock the ball free, giving the Lancers the ball squarely in the attacking zone.

A foul from the Owls set up a free position chance for Worcester, but the shot missed wide of the net. Keeping control of the ball, Worcester worked around the perimeter then in the closing seconds of the shot clock, Kerry Brown found an open Kelly in the middle of the fan where she fired a high shot into the cage for the golden-goal winner.

The Owls fought valiantly throughout the game and battled back from down two goals midway through the third quarter to take the lead. Westfield potted five of the final six goals of the third quarter with Mercedes Rozzi (South Burlington, Vt.) scoring on a free position chance to trim the deficit to one goal, then Christina Roncarati (East Longmeadow, Mass.) found Bri McPhillips (Montgomery, N.Y.) who tied the game at eight apiece with 5:19 to play in the third.

Molly Witkowski put the Lancers ahead temporarily, but three Owls goals over the final four minutes of the quarter positioned Westfield with an 11-9 lead after three quarters. Two were scored off free position opportunities with Emily Heslin (Wrentham, Mass.) bouncing in the go-ahead marker followed by Roncarati's low shot that snuck into the net.

Westfield held two separate three-goal leads in the fourth quarter. Marena Morales (Tolland, Conn.) scored both of the Owls goals in the period, taking a pass from Brooke Oliveri (Somers, Conn.) where she would quickly side-step a defender to get to the goal, ripping a high shot for a 12-9 lead with 14:30 left. Fisher scored 26 seconds later, then after nearly ten minutes of stout defensive play from both sides, Morales obtained possession out of a timeout from midfield. She drove all the way into the fan where she would work past her primary defender and split a pair of secondary defenders before finishing the shot in the top left of the frame, giving the Owls a 13-10 lead with 4:36 to go in regulation.

Worcester won the next two draws and capitalized on both, scoring two goals 26 seconds apart to climb back into the game, trailing 13-12 with 3:42 remaining. Westfield won the next draw on an infraction and got two free position looks but were both shot high of the net. Another shot went wide of the frame and was picked up by the Lancers but was quickly turned over with the Owls gaining possession with one minute left in the game.

The Lancers immediately pressured and forced a turnover, traversing back down the field to the Owls defensive zone where an initial shot from Kelly on a free position attempt hit the post. Worcester picked up the grounder which resulted in Fisher's goal.

Neither team found an edge in the first half as the Owls erased three early goals to tie the game as the two sides went into half knotted at 5-5.

Both teams had a trio of three-goal scores. Morales, Rozzi and Roncarati for the Owls and Fisher, Brown, and Witkowski for the Lancers.

Conley made 11 saves for the Owls including six saves in a first period which was titled in the Lancers favor. She kept Westfield in the game early and gave them a chance to rally ahead while also making one stop in overtime. Oleniak made eight saves for Worcester, three of which came in the fourth quarter with the Owls looking to further extend their lead. Worcester led in total shots at 34-32.

The Owls recovered in the draw circle after a first quarter which saw Worcester win all seven draws as the final total ended with the Lancers holding a 16-12 edge. Neither team was effective in free position chances with the Owls finishing at 4-for-11 while the Lancers ended scoreless in four looks.