Owls Net Three Hat-Tricks in 13-3 Victory over Wheaton

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomores' Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.), and Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) all recorded hat tricks as the Owls stifled Wheaton College, 13-3, on a Wednesday night from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls improve to 5-5 on the year while Wheaton drops to 8-3 on the season.

Cretella opened the scoring for both teams five minutes into the game before sophomore Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) evened the game just 1:02 after the Cretella goal. After that, the Owls ran off six straight goals heading into halftime capped by Hafensteiner, leading the Lyons 7-1 at the break.

The Owls continued to pressure Wheaton in the second half of the game as the Owls outscored the Lyons 6-2 in the half and caused a total of 22 Wheaton turnovers overall.

Junior Cassidy Harvey added two goals and junior Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist. First-year Hannah Collins also recorded a goal.

Darien Webb (Hamden, Mass.) led the Lyons with two goals with Mountain picking up the third.

Sophomore Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) picked up her second win of the season, stopping six shots on net. First-year Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass.) entered the second half and compiled five saves. Lyons goalkeeper Emily Oundijan (Longmeadow, Mass.) took the loss despite registering 15 saves.

Westfield State will visit Salem State in their next game on Saturday beginning at 1:00 P.M. Wheaton College returns home to face Coast Guard on Saturday with a 1:00 P.M. start time.