Stauffer Tallies Bookend Goals, Owls Roll Past Bison, 4-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Sadie Stauffer (Suffield, Conn.) scored a pair of goals to lead Westfield State field hockey to a 4-1 victory over Nichols College on day two of the Caryl Newof Classic from Smith College on Saturday afternoon.

Stauffer got the Owls on the board in the second quarter, collecting a feed from Abby Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) to put Westfield in front as the Owls would maintain a lead for the remainder of the game.

Westfield (1-1) entered the second half with a 1-0 lead, doubling their advantage after a flurry of shots on net to begin the third. Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) made an early save in the frame on a shot from Taylor Breen (Shrewsbury, Mass.), then the Owls went on the offensive attack, registering three penalty corners and five shots on net in a span of five minutes.

On the Owls fourth shot on goal in that span, junior Erin Murphy (Auburn, Mass.) converted for the Owls second goal of the game, netting her first of the season at the 33:55 mark. Three minutes after the Murphy tally, the Bison cut the deficit in half on a goal by Kaelyn Casper (Hatfield, Pa.) as Westfield took a 2-1 lead into the final quarter.

Westfield immediately pushed the lead back to two goals just 2:14 into the frame this time with Erin Murphy setting up Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) for her first goal of the season after tying for the team lead with seven goals last season.

Gniadek (W, 1-1) stopped three shots directed at her cage in the fourth, and totaled six of her eight saves in the second half, allowing Westfield to maintain a two-goal lead. The Owls controlled the majority of possession time in the fourth quarter, which included a whopping eight penalty corners in the frame alone.

With three minutes left in the game, Kaleigh Murphy dished a pass to Stauffer who buried her second of the afternoon to put the game out of reach, securing the Owls first win of the 2024 season.

The performance was a strong bounce back game for the Owls, led in part by senior midfielder Jordan Conrad (Worcester, Mass.) who was named to the Caryl Newhof Classic All-Tournament team. 

Sophia Venable (Troy, N.Y.) took the loss in net, but delivered a strong performance with nine saves for the Bison, who were outshot 16-12 by the Owls in the contest.

After a pair of neutral games to start the regular season, the Owls will host UMass Dartmouth for the home opener on Saturday, September 7 at 12:00 P.M. from Alumni Field.