Murphy Tallies in Extra Time, Win Streak Reaches Ten in 2-1 Victory at Worcester

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) tapped home the overtime winner to complete a 2-1 come from behind victory over Worcester State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game on the road on Tuesday night.

The Owls built upon their program-record win streak by securing their tenth consecutive victory while moving to 8-0 in the MASCAC and 12-3 on the season. The Lancers are now 3-4 in the conference and 3-10 overall.

Murphy found herself at the center of the Owls success in a big moment once again, tallying her seventh game winning goal of the season and 16^th of her career. The play started in the Owls own end of the field with Lee Gould (Southborough, Mass.) launching a pass up field, finding the stick of Caroline Andrade (Watertown, Mass.). Andrade obtained possession and stickhandled downfield, cutting inside of the nearest Lancers defender to initiate a two-on-one with Murphy tracking down the opposite hash. Andrade fed the pass to Murphy who buried the shot to complete the sudden victory period.

Westfield needed to find an equalizing goal in order to reach overtime and did so with under ten minutes to play in the game. The Owls were awarded a penalty corner, resulting in an initial shot from Andrade which was blocked before reaching the net. The ball deflected to Ashley D'Elia (Watertown, Conn.) who centered a pass to Kacey Curran (Fall River, Mass.). Curran turned and swept the ball to the right post where Alyssa Reynolds (Somers, Conn.) was able to fire a shot in between her legs, while falling, into the back of the cage to tie the game.  

The Owls found themselves in an early 1-0 deficit after a goal from Kae Coleman (Attleboro, Mass.) put the Lancers in front 4:52 into the contest. Emma Gniadek (Worcester, Mass.) held Worcester off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, giving the Owls a chance to rally. She made four saves in the second quarter to keep the match at a one goal deficit entering halftime.

In the second half, the field tilted in favor of Westfield, outshooting Worcester 11-2 in the second half and overtime (25-12 for the game). Gniadek (W, 7-3) made six saves for the Owls while Lizzy MacDonald (Medford, Mass.) made 11 saves in a strong effort in net for the Lancers.

Both regular season meetings went in the Owls favor by a narrow one goal margin with Murphy scoring the game winner in both contests. The last six meetings between the two sides have now been decided by one goal.

The Owls are now 3-0 in overtime games this season. Murphy also scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 victory at UMass Dartmouth on September 6. The other overtime game against Johnson and Wales went to a penalty shootout with Murphy scoring on the Owls final attempt to seal the win.

Westfield State will have a week to prepare for the homestretch of the schedule and will attempt to tie the single season program win record next Tuesday as the Owls visit Anna Maria at 6:00 P.M. from Paxton, Mass.