Owls Rally Past Bears for Fifth-Straight Win

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Sarah Richard (Templeton, Mass.) picked up a goal and an assist as the Owls secured their fifth straight win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Bridgewater State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass. on Tuesday night.

The Owls sweep the regular season series with the Bears, defeating them by a mark of 3-1 in both contests. Westfield pushes their overall record to 11-7, while advancing to 7-2 in the MASCAC. The Bears drop to 4-10 on the year and 1-8 in conference play.

With the Owls trailing 1-0, Westfield responded midway through the second quarter, tying the game off of a penalty corner. Bre Foley (South Hadley, Mass.) fired a pass towards the top of the fan where Madison Ouellette (Uxbridge, Mass.) stick tapped the ball, setting up Richard who dished a pass into the fan for Leah Pierce (Barnstable, Mass.) who ripped a shot low and past Bears' keeper Catherine Daoulas (Marshfield, Mass.) for the equalizer.

In the second half, with the game knotted up at one goal apiece, Skyla Harthcock (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) intercepted a pass in the Bears defensive end and possessed the ball into a scoring area with the initial shot stopped by Daoulas with Richard cleaning up the rebound by depositing her fifth of the season to put Westfield in front 2-1 with just under ten minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Owls found an insurance goal off of another penalty corner in the fourth quarter, this time with Emily Martin (Southwick, Mass.) steadying a pass from Foley, then dishing to Ouellette who lofted a shot into the top corner of the cage to extend the Owls' lead to two goals, ultimately netting the final tally for either side.

Bridgewater State opened the scoring with the game's first goal in the second quarter. Madison Ellis (Attleboro, Mass.) led a counterattack for the Bears into the Owls defensive end, firing a shot towards the net that was deflected by an Owls player with the ball careening to the stick of Raegen Perry (Nantucket, Mass.) who deposited her third goal of the campaign to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

The Owls held a 17-8 shots advantage over the Bears, and also hit two posts, both coming off the stick of Harthcock. Paige Reisman (Millford, Mass.) earned her fourth win of the season, entering the second half of a tie game and recording two saves. Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) started the opening 30 minutes for the Owls. Daoulas (L, 1-4-1) registered three saves for the Bears.

Both teams will be playing their final regular season game in their next matchup with the Owls remaining home to host Framingham State on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. with Bridgewater State returning home to battle Fitchburg State on Friday at 7:00 P.M.