Creech, Owls Chase Wolves, 3-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. -  Westfield State's Taylor Creech (Kennebunk, Maine) scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the Owls to a 3-1 win over Western Connecticut State University in a non-conference field hockey game at Alumni Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Westfield State improves to 6-6 on the season, while Western Connecticut is now 4-6.

Creech's first tally of the day came on a breakaway as Leah Pierce (Barnstable, Mass.) sent a long pass through the left side that Creech ran on to, and then beat WestConn goalie Kayla Hnasko (Raritan, N.J.) with some stick work before flipping the ball to the backboard.

Creech's second goal came on a scramble in front of the next, where Hnasko denied an initial shot from the Owls before the loose ball made its way to Creech for the tap in at the right post.

WestConn had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the match when Alessia Callahan (Glassboro, N.J.) scored on a rebound off of a penalty corner just 1:50 in to the game.

The Owls capped the scoring in the 39^th minute when Skyla Harthcock (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) poked the ball ahead in the scoring circle to Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.), who flicked a backhander into the back netting for the 3-1 final

Hnasko finished with 13 saves and came off her line to clear the ball away from the scoring circle on several other occasions.

Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) made two saves in cage for Westfield.

The Owls will be back in action on Saturday, traveling to Framingham State for a key Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at 11:00 a.m.