Owls Fall to Salem State in OT, 4-3
Allison Couillard (Tewksbury, Mass.) outraced the Westfield State defense and scored the game-winner just forty-nine seconds into overtime as Salem State defeated first place Westfield State 4-3 in Little East field hockey action on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field. h
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Team Stats
Salem St.
| Game Statistics | Westfield St. | Salem St. |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 24 (21) | 9 (9) |
| Saves | 3 | 16 |
| Fouls | 3 | 0 |
| Penalty Corners | 14 | 5 |
SALEM, Mass. -- Allison Couillard (Tewksbury, Mass.) outraced the Westfield State defense and scored the game-winner just forty-nine seconds into overtime as Salem State defeated first place Westfield State 4-3 in Little East field hockey action on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field. The win pushes Salem State over the .500 mark (8-7) and strengthens their hold on a playoff spot at 6-5. The Owls go to 9-8 and 8-3 in the league.
Couillard, who scored two goals on the night, took possession at midfield in the extra period, delivering up an uncontested shot that beat goalie Riley Goulet (Marion, Mass.).
A corner set up Salem State with the first goal of the game as Mikayla Mason (Beverly, Mass.) corralled a loose ball and slipped a shot past Goulet on her left side, staking Salem State to a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. Melanie Mason (Beverly, Mass.) extended the lead to 2-0 when she outworked the Westfield State defense for a loose ball deep in the Owls' zone early in the second period.
Shannon Roycroft (Barnstable, Mass.) cut the deficit in half when she scored from just outside the goal area for the Owls in the 19th minute. Westfield State outshot the Vikings 7-6 in the first half with all seven shots coming in the second quarter.
Kelsi McDevitt (Gilbertsville, Pa.) tied the game game at 2-2 in the 37th minute, putting home a shot after a corner attempt by Westfield State. The Owls dominated possession in the third, taking seven shots to just one for the Vikings, but four saves in the period by Kelli McCarthy (Foxborough, Mass.) kept the game even going into the fourth quarter.
Couillard gave the Vikings the lead back when she rifled in a shot off a Salem State corner attempt in the 46th minute. However, the Owls' Taylor Creech (Kennebunk, Maine) sent the game to overtime, scoring with less than 30 seconds remaining as the Vikings were unable to clear a loose ball, resulting in the game-tying score.
McCarthy made 16 saves, the fourth time this season she had 16 or more saves in a game, in the victory. Goulet stopped three shots in the loss.
Westfield State will face off with Keene State on Friday in a game that has multiple seeding implications as both the Owls and Keene are part of a logjam atop the Little East Conference standings.