Women's Lacrosse Bracket

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State Bears have earned the top seed in the 2014 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Lacrosse Tournament which begins on Tuesday, April 29 with the quarterfinals, then the semifinals on Thursday, May 1 and commences with the championship on Saturday, May 3.

Landing a first-round bye, Bridgewater State and Worcester State will await the winners of the quarterfinal match-ups on Tuesday. Third-seeded Westfield State hosts sixth-seeded Framingham State at 7 p.m. in Westfield while fourth-seeded Fitchburg State entertains fifth-seeded Salem State at 7 p.m.

Bridgewater State will play the winner of Fitchburg State/Salem State at 7 p.m. and Worcester State will take on the victor of Westfield State/Framingham State at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.

Bridgewater State nabbed the top seed with a perfect 6-0 record in conference play. Taylor Clancy led the Bears with 60 goals and 26 assists for 86 points to lead the conference in points. Melissa Renauld finished her freshman campaign with 56 goals and 16 assists for 72 points for the third best point total in the league.

Earning the other bye into the semifinals, Worcester State ended the regular season with five conference wins. The Lancers’ Kalia Chase and Jackie Connors completed the season fourth and fifth in the conference in goals with 44 and 42, respectively. With 42 goals and 32 assists, Connors finished the season with 74 points which is second most in the league.

Westfield State rounded out the regular season with four conference wins for the third seed in next week’s tournament. Stephanie Lenhardt led the Owls with 69 points on 23 goals and 46 assists. Goalie Mimi Khapaeng was top in the conference in save percentage at 49 percent and fourth in saves with 126. Fitchburg State locked down the fourth seed with three conference victories. Freshman Ali Laferriere finished first in the conference in goals with 62 and third in the conference in overall points with 70.

Rounding out the tournament field is Salem State and Framingham State with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. The Vikings concluded the regular season with two conference wins. Erin Riley paced Salem State with 34 goals and three assists. Framingham State landed the final spot in the tournament with one conference win. Lindsay Nixon and Nicole L’Heureux led the Rams with 14 points apiece. Nixon tallied the points on eight goals and six assists while L’Heureux netted 13 goals and one assist.

During the 2013 season, Bridgewater State won the inaugural MASCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship with a 13-10 win over second-seeded Westfield State.