Owls Offense Ignites in Second Half to Top Elms 4-1

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Nicholas Parakilas (East Windsor, Conn.) sparked a four-goal second half as the Owls rallied from a 1-0 deficit to top Elms College 4-1 on the road Wednesday night from Chicopee, Mass. The Owls (2-1) come from behind win came in the second night of back to back games for Westfield.

Trailing 1-0 entering the second half, Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) tracked down a through ball on the right side off the foot of Coleby Andrade (Falmouth, Mass.) who then centered a pass into the middle of the box in stride with Parakilas who fired a shot to the far side to tie the game.

Just under six minutes later, Parakilas lofted a ball downfield to Andrade who was able to fend off a Blazers defender on his run towards the corner flag. He possessed the ball and found a cutting Sonny Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) who's initial shot at point blank range was saved by Elms keeper Aidan Berube (Chicopee, Mass.), with the rebound deflecting back to Mazza who converted the go-ahead marker.  

The Owls added two insurance goals late in the second half starting with Miguel Fortich (Springfield, Mass.) who rocketed a shot towards the upper righthand corner of the net for his first collegiate goal to push Westfield to a two-goal advantage. Andrade put the finishing touches on a strong second half for Westfield, putting the game out of reach with his first tally of the season.

Westfield was forced to come from behind after Brandyn Costa (Palmer, Mass.) deposited Elms only goal of the match inside the 41^st minute.

The Owls outshot the Blazers 8-4 in first half, then turned up the intensity even more in the second half, dominating to the tune of a 14-3 shot edge for the Owls. On the night, Westfield piled up 22 shots to Elms' seven. A total of 25 fouls and 11 yellow cards were issued in the match.

Berto Truoiolo (Springfield, Mass.) and Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) split time in net with Truoiolo registering one save while Kononenko stopped two shots on net in the second half to pick up the victory.

Westfield State will continue their four-game road swing on the season, traveling to Western New England for their next game on Friday at 4:30 P.M.