Women’s Soccer Picked to Three-Peat as MASCAC Champions
The Westfield State women’s soccer team remains the team to beat in the conference heading into the 2023 season, earning the top spot in the MASCAC preseason poll as voted on by the coaches throughout the league.
WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State women's soccer team remains the team to beat in the conference heading into the 2023 season, earning the top spot in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll as voted on by coaches throughout the league.
The Owls, after winning back-to-back conference titles, topped the poll with 47 points and five first-place votes. After falling in the MASCAC title game to Westfield, Fitchburg State claimed the second spot in the poll with a total of 41 points and two first-place votes. Rounding up the top three is Bridgewater State with 38 points and the final first-place receiving vote. Coaches cannot vote for their own team in the preseason poll process.
Westfield finished the 2022 campaign with a 16-4-1 overall record, defeating Fitchburg State in the tournament championship game, 1-0. The Owls advanced into the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Emerson College 2-1 in double overtime before dropping to the top team in the region in Scranton, 3-0.
Westfield has been dominant throughout conference play over the last two seasons as the Owls have won the last 18 games against conference foes between the regular season and postseason.
The Owls bring back three MASCAC All-Conference players from a season ago. 2022 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year Jaida Cochran (Middleboro, Mass.) and all-conference selection Jenna Hurlburt (Kingston, Mass.) return to a defensive unit that allowed less than one goal per game (0.94 GAA).
Offensively, junior and First-Team All-Conference selection Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass.) fronts the Owls attack after tallying 47 goals and 18 assists in her first two seasons while leading all of Division III in goals in her first season.
In net, sophomore Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.) will look to build off of an impressive rookie campaign after posting a 7-3 record with a 0.97 goals against average and an .827 save percentage across 15 games.
Women's soccer returns to campus on Thursday to kick off the preseason with their first practice at 4:00 P.M. on August 24. The Owls open the season on Sunday, September 3 at Gordon College at 3:00 P.M.
For full breakdown of the 2023 women's soccer preseason poll, CLICK HERE