Lancers Advance to MASCAC Championship with Victory over Rams

Worcester, MA- In a rematch of last year's 2025 MASCAC Championship game, the #1 seed Worcester State Lancers hosted the #4 seed Framingham State Rams on Coughlin Field. Last season's championship ended with Worcester claiming their first MASCAC Championship, defeating the Rams 13-11. Framingham and Worcester met earlier this season on Coughlin field, where Worcester managed to claim a 14-10 victory. Framingham entered the game with a victory over Fitchburg State, 18-3, this past Tuesday in the MASCAC quarterfinals.

Final

Framingham State: 5

Worcester State: 12

How it Happened:

Framingham State started the first quarter with an initial attack after first-year Kate McGovern (Bow, NH) scored a goal at 12:02, which gave the Rams a 1–0 advantage. Worcester State responded quickly through junior Madigan Kelley (Bourne, MA), who scored a goal at the 1:50 mark after receiving an assist from first-year Fallon Lozano (Upton, MA) to tie the game at 1–1. The Lancers then gained momentum in the middle of the first quarter. The first goal of the game for Worcester State came at 7:22 on a free-position opportunity, giving them their first lead. Senior McKayla Fisher (Peabody, MA) scored two consecutive goals with junior Meghan Bowen (Westfield, MA) providing the first assist, which created a 4–1 advantage for Worcester State. Framingham State finished the quarter with a strong performance as first-year Katelyn Fugazzotto (Tyngsborough, MA) and first-year Jenna James (Brewerton, NY) scored goals within seconds of each other to reduce the score difference to 4–3 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Worcester State establish its preferred tempo while its offense maintained unbroken pressure to extend its existing lead. Senior Molly Witkowski (Greenville, NY) opened the scoring early in the period at 12:54, extending the Lancers' lead to 5–3. The team maintained its scoring streak as Bowen contributed to the offense by scoring at 8:36 through a junior Kerry Brown (Billerica, MA) assist. Bowen maintained her scoring ability after she scored two additional goals within a short time period, followed by one goal from Fisher and another goal from Senior Shannon Donahue (Dennis, MA) to increase the score to 8–3. Donahue scored a goal at 3:10, which completed the quarter and enabled Worcester State to enter halftime with a 9–3 lead.

Framingham State got on the board in the third quarter when sophomore Madeline Bosma (Orange, CT) scored a goal at 9:02 of the third quarter because Jenna James assisted her. Worcester State answered later in the period, as Molly Witkowski scored her second goal of the game at 2:05 off an assist from Shannon Donahue, extending the lead to 10–4 heading into the final quarter.

At 13:53, Shannon Donahue scored to extend Worcester State's fourth-quarter lead to 11–4. Framingham State found the back of the net late with Kate McGovern scoring at 1:41 off an assist from first-year Katie Pizzardi (Mineola, NY) to bring the score to 11–5. Worcester State scored again in the last seconds because first-year Meghan Heffernan (Westminster, MA) scored with 25 seconds remaining and Shannon Donahue assisted to secure a 12–5 victory, taking the Lancers back to the MASCAC Championship.

What's Next:

With the victory, the Lancers (13-5, 7-0) advanced to the MASCAC Championship game hosted at Worcester State on Saturday at 12pm.