After defeating their semifinal opponents on Friday night, top seed Westfield State and second seed Worcester State will meet on Sunday for the MASCAC Women's Soccer Tournament crown.

#2 Worcester State 3, #3 Bridgewater State 2    Box Score

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.  

#1 Westfield State 3, #4 Framingham State 0      Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Westfield State senior Madi Dufries (Leicester, Mass.) scored two goals and assisted on another to lead top-seeded Westfield to a 3-0 win over #4 seed Framingham State in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament at Alumni Field on Friday evening.

Westfield got on the board first when senior back Morgan Remington (Enfield, Conn.)  made an overlapping run deep in the left corner, then served a perfect ball across the goal mouth to Dufries, who tapped it in at the back post for a 1-0 lead in the 49^th minute. 

Framingham battled throughout the game, as the Owls were unable to gain any distance on the Rams until late.

With about nine minutes left in regulation Westfield’s Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass./Mahar) was tripped just outside the top of the penalty area to give the Owls a direct kick.  Jaida Cochran (Middleboro, Mass.) blistered a high shot that Framingham goalkeeper Sarah Lutsic (Sandwich, Mass.) elevated to save.

Less than a minute later, Westfield State extended the lead to 2-0.  Off an Owls throw in, Dufries used a back heel pass to Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.), who centered the ball for Parker , who found the back of the net for her nation-leading 30^th goal of the season on a shot with 8:27 left in regulation to give the Owls a 2-0 lead.

Dufries added her second goal late in the game when Rennich fed her on a free kick from the left side that skipped through the penalty area and Dufries slid into the back post to beat a Framingham defender and score the goal.

Rennich now has 17 assists on the season, adding to her own school record tally.

Westfield junior goalkeeper Lauryn Davis (Templeton, Mass./Quabbin) made two saves to earn the shutout for Westfield State, while Oskirko finished with nine saves and Lutsic three for Framingham.

For Framingham, Lutsic relieved freshman Jetta Oskirko (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba) in goal with 19 minutes left in the game, with Oskirko returning to the match as a forward to try to bolster the Rams attack.

Westfield greeted Lutsic with back to back shots from Parker and Rennich in the first 90 seconds in goal, with Lutsic saving both shots.

Westfield controlled the run of play in the first half, outshooting the Rams 21-1, and holding a 9-1 edge in shots on goal.  The Rams did their best to limit Parker, and the best chance for Westfield came very late in the half when senior Jenn Rennich chipped a shot over the head of Rams goalkeeper Oskirko but the shot carried just over the crossbar.

Westfield outshot the Rams 36-3 in the match and has a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Westfield improves to 14-4-1 overall, while Framingham’s season comes to an end at 5-12-2.

Westfield State advances to Sunday’s championship game, where the Owls will host #2 Worcester State at noon at Alumni Field.

 Releases courtesy of Worcester State and Westfield State Sports Information