Lancers Complete Comeback, Book Spot in MASCAC Final

Worcester, Mass. – The second seeded Worcester State University Lancers overcame a, 2-0, halftime deficit by scoring three second half goals to defeat the third seeded Bridgewater State Bears, 3-2, in the semifinal round of the Women's Soccer Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament.

The Lancers stormed out of the second half cutting the Bear advantage in half, 2-1, just 33 seconds into the second frame as Jordan Bailey (Monson, Mass.) headed in a high arching corner kick from senior Megan Gurlitz (Auburn, Mass.).

The Lancers continued to control play in the second half and netted the equalizer of another Gurlitz corner kick; this kicked in by senior Ali Maldonado (Rutland, MA) who cleaned it up on the back post.

The last time these two teams met in the MASCAC playoffs was in the 2019 final where the Lancers prevailed, 1-0 in double overtime to claim the tournament championship and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The game looked like it might be headed back to overtime again before sophomore Ella Tatarczuk (Bedford, Mass.) converted on a nice pass from Maldonado to give the Lancers the, 3-2, edge with a little over five minutes to play.

Bridgewater State commanded much of the first half on their way to the, 2-0 halftime margin. 

The Bears got on the board first when Michelle Belcher (Norton, Mass.) turned on a feed from Audra McDuffie (Millbury, Mass.)  from 20 yards out at the 28:39 mark.

BSU extended their lead to, 2-0, six minutes later when Sydney Sousa (Dartmouth, Mass.) passed the ball towards the corner and Madelyn Morin (East Longmeadow, Mass.) chased it down and drilled a scoring shot from the right side.

Worcester State netminder Ashley Spellman (Lancaster, Mass.) and her counterpart Tory Viola-Laughery (Brockton, Mass.) each made 4 saves on the night.

Worcester State improves to 9-6-2 on the season while the Bears' campaign ends with a 9-8-1 mark.

Worcester State will now travel to top seeded Westfield State to take on the Owls in the MASCAC finals.  Westfield advanced to the title game by defeating Framingham State, 3-0, Friday night.  The match is slated for Sunday at noon.