Owls Batter Rams, 5-1

WESTFIELD, Mass.  – Westfield State junior midfielder Lydia Kinsman (Southwick/Granville, Mass.) scored twice to power Westfield State University over Framingham State University, 5-1, in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday evening.

Westfield State now moves to 3-1 in the MASCAC (7-5-1 overall), while Framingham drops to 2-2 in the conference (2-9-1 overall).

Westfield State dominated much of the play, outshooting the Rams 28-11 and keeping the ball in the Framingham territory for most of the match.

The Owls got things going first as a Morgan Remington (Enfield, Conn.) corner kick set up a header from Lydia Kinsman for the 1-0 Westfield lead.

Westfield State would follow that goal up with another nearly ten minutes later after a booming kick from goalkeeper Lauryn Davis (Templteon, Mass.) put sophomore midfielder Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.) just past the midfield stripe. Rennich then sent a beautiful through ball to Alex Mello (Southwick/Westfield, Mass.) who one-timed the pass with her left foot past the Ram keeper for the 2-0 advantage.

Framingham would show a sign of life in the 41^st minute when junior midfielder Casey Good (Dartmouth, Mass.) cut the Westfield State lead in half. Senior back Kaleigh Pallotta (Hanover, Mass.) blasted a free kick right into the box, and Good was all over it as she emerged from a scrum in front to put a foot on the ball and shrink the lead to 2-1.

But the Owls would answer with only 25 seconds remaining in the half when junior Hallee Tripp (Swansea, Mass.) would take a feed from Jenna Hurlburt (Kingston, Mass.) and sneak it into the back of the net to put Westfield back up by two, 3-1.

The first half of play was largely controlled by the Owls, as they outshot the Rams 16-7.

In the second half, Westfield State would pick up right where they left off, as Kinsman would net her second of the match after a one-time pass from Marissa Jacob (Jefferson, Mass.) left her all alone in front for the finish and 4-1 lead.

Freshman Mary Kate McAleavey (North Quincy/Quincy, Mass.) notched the first goal of her career in the 79^th minute, blasting a shot off the cross bar and down into the net to cap off the scoring for the evening and put the Owls up for good, 5-1.

The Owls held the final advantage in shots on goal, 17-7, with the Rams holding no clear scoring chances in the second half. Goalkeeper Madison Brown (Attleboro, Mass.) made 12 saves for the Framingham, while Davis had 6 for the Owls.

Up next, the Owls will host MASCAC opponent MCLA a week from today, on Saturday beginning at Noon.

Framingham will stay in MASCAC play as well, hosting Bridgewater next Saturday at 11:00 a.m.