Lancers Fall in Overtime Battle with Owls

Worcester, MA- After closing out the first round of conference match ups last week, the Worcester State Field Hockey team (3-9, 3-3) is set to move into their second turn meetings with their conference opponents to close out the regular season schedule. The Lancers began tonight with a meeting with conference leader Westfield State (11-3, 7-0) who they fell to 2-1 in their first meeting back on September 20th.

Final- OT

Worcester State: 1

Westfield State: 2

How it Happened:

Tonight's conference matchup started out strong for the Lancers, with senior Kae Coleman (Attleboro, MA) scoring an early goal at center frame from a perfect slip from senior Charlotte MacGregor (Bellingham, MA), putting them ahead 1-0. What followed were more chances by the Lancers, who dominated the opening half action, interspersed with some threats from the Owls. 

The second quarter was more the same from both sides. Westfield was the team to claim the lead in possession but were unable to convert this time into a score on the scoreboard. As the quarter progressed, the Lancers stepped up their game and killed three consecutive corners in a row to maintain a 1-0 lead into halftime. 

The second half started out full of intensity as both teams got early chances in an exchange of attacking plays. One of these attempts forced goalkeeper sophomore Lizzy Macdonald (Medford, MA) to make a heroic save to keep a clean sheet for Worcester. 

It would all come down to a solid fourth quarter for Worcester to grab a crucial victory over the Owls. It was looking promising for the Lancers until the Owls managed to capitalize on a crush on a corner in front of the cage to send the equalizer into the boards.WOrcester and Westfield would let the intensity dictate their pace for the final minutes but the defense would hold solid on both sides as the moved into overtime sudden death action.

Worcester would get the first chances to clinch the game with their closest coming off a break away from first year Kaylie Ciccone (Douglas, MA) who dished it to Coleman whose shot went wide. Westfield would counter quickly and find their own slip around the Lancer pressure and the back of the cage for the goal and victory. 

What's Next:

Worcester State (3-10, 3-4) will journey to Fitchburg State on Saturday for an 11am meeting as they look for redemption after an early season loss to the Falcons in the final minute of action.