Berthiaume's Pair Powers Owls to Title Game

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior midfielder Morgan Berthiaume (Douglas/Webster, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to lead #2 seed Westfield State University to a 2-0 win over #3 Bridgewater State in the semifinals of the MASCAC women's soccer tournament.

Westfield advances to Sunday's championship game, where they will travel to #1 seed Worcester State for a 12 noon game at Coughlin Field.    Worcester advanced with a 1-0 win over Framingham State earlier this evening.

Westfield and Bridgewater played a scoreless first half.

The Owls started the second half with energy, and with 41:50 left,  Kiana Muratsuka (Wahaiwa, Hawaii/Mililani HS) split two defenders on a drive to the net, cutting inside before leaving a pass to her left  Berthiaume who rocketed a shot off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net to break the scoreless tie.

The Owls doubled their advantage with 14:43 remaining in the match. An initial shot from Berthiaume was blocked, deflecting back to Gabby Stolfi (Newington, Conn.) who served a second ball back into the penalty area. Muratsuka gathered the ball then threaded a diagonal pass towards the left post where Berthiaume was able to find the ball despite being shielded by a Bears defender, tapping a shot past sliding Bears GK Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I/Mount Hope) and into the frame for a 2-0 Owls lead.

Bridgewater had an apparent goal waved off with five minutes left in the match, when Anna Rice (Weymouth, Mass.) poked at a loose ball in the penalty area and popped it towards the left post.  Replay showed the ball grazing the post then bouncing off the diagonal interior support of the goal before bouncing up and hitting the crossbar, and deflecting down just outside the goal line before Westfield goalkeeper Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.) caught it and kept it out of the net.

Robak finished with four saves to earn the shutout, while Levesque finished with seven stops.  Westfield racked up 13 shots in the second half to finish with 18 to the Bears' 8, while Bridgewater generated two corner kicks to the Owls one.

Westfield is now 8-5-6 on the season, while the Bears year will end the season 5-8-5.    Bridgewater played without two of their top scorers Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass./N. Middlesex) and Jenna Sweeney (Wilmington, Mass.), who missed the game due to injury.   The Owls extracted a measure of revenge on the Bears, who topped Westfield 3-2 in the MASCAC title game in 2024.

The first half was evenly played with Westfield controlling possession early, before momentum swung to the Bears later in the half.  A steady rain began falling in the second half.

Bridgewater State had the first high danger scoring chance of the game after an Owls foul just outside the right edge of the box set up a free kick. Natalie Mattos (Fairhaven, Mass.) delivered a threatening service into the box, skipping by the goalkeepers' box untouched by either side.

With 11 minutes to play in the half, Juliana Matos (Taunton, Mass.) got a right footed shot on a corner from Abigail Shea (Somerset, Mass.) with the ball passing wide of the net.

The Bears had a final chance in the opening 45 minutes after Lauren Sellmayer (North Easton, Mass.) lofted a free kick from the other side of midfield into the center of the box where Katie Slattery (Wilbraham, Mass.) was able to alertly clear the ball back up field.

Westfield had their best opportunity of the first half with 2:30 left after good ball movement from Annika Stockhaus (Webster, Mass.) and Liv DeMember (West Boylston, Mass.), setting up Berthiaume for a low, right-footed shot that was saved by Levesque.

Less than a minute into the second half, Westfield's DeMember centered a pass to Muratsuka (Wahiawa, Hawaii) who squared up to the net, touched the ball to her right, then launched a low shot labeled for back of the net before Levesque made a diving stop to her left.

Sunday's championship game will be the second meeting between the Owls and Worcester State this season, Westfield took the regular season meeting in Worcester, 1-0 behind a goal from Tia Tollis.   Westfield will be seeking an 11th MASCAC tournament title - all since 2008 under the guidance of coach Todd Ditmar.