Delaney Parker Sets Owls Career Goal-Scoring Record

WESTFIELD, Mass. -  Westfield State junior forward Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass./Mahar HS) notched her 52^nd career goal to set the Owls' career goals record in a 5-0 win over Massachusetts Maritime Academy in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer match at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield, the defending conference champs and picked first in the league's pre-season poll, looked the part as they outshot Buccaneers 28-0 in the first half, and 37-1 in the match.  The Owls improve to 3-3, 1-0 MASCAC.    Mass Maritime is now 0-4, and 0-1 in the league.

Parker's record-setter was the Owls fifth goal of the first half, as she scored on PK after the Owls' Ryan Moran (Manchester, N.H.) was taken down from behind while attacking the goal in the 42^nd minute.

Parker's shot was just off the left side of Buccaneers starting goalkeeper Brady Deschamps (Brewster, Mass./Nauset).

It feels great," said Parker. "I could tell the shots I was taking earlier were just me in my head.  I was thinking 'I need to get it' but I was just off."

The crowd surged with excitement for each Owls scoring chance for Parker, but she delivered a couple of shots high over the cross bar in the early going.

"Even the PK wasn't great," she said, throwing up her hands. "But it went in, and now it's over with."

Westfield made sure the game was over by the half.

Tia Tollis (East Longmeadow, Mass.) put the Owls on the board in the eighth minute with a nice header off of a corner kick from Jaida Cochran (Middleboro, Mass).   Kiana Maratsuka (Mililani, Hawaii) delivered a pair of goals, both on feeds from Parker, and Kiana Patel (Nairobi, Kenya) talled her first collegiate goal with an assist from Maratsuka as the Owls got out to the big early lead.

The Owls peppered Deschamps with 28 total shots as she made 11 saves in the first half.   Reagan Kerecz (Tolland, Conn./Ethel Walker School) played between the pipes for the Bucs in the second half and came up wth six saves to keep the Owls off the board in the second frame.

Westfield used 26 players including two goalkeepers.   Kayla Santucci (Agawam, Mass.) didn't face a single shot in the first half in getting the win, and Michaella Monchecchi (Winsdor, Mass./Wahconah) came out of the net to play a wide shot from Deschamps, who played in the field in the second half, late in the game on the only serious incursion into Owls territory for the Buccaneers.

Parker now has 52 goals, one more than Owls hall of famer Sandy (Pinto) Graham '97.   Parker shares the team lead with Maratsuka with five goals each this season. Parker led NCAA D3 in goals with 31 as a freshman and added 16 in her sophomore season.

Westfield State was playing its first home game of the season after starting with five straight on the road.  The Owls travels took them from Gorham, Maine to Cortland, N.Y. while playing schools from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania.  Westfield traversed 1,278 miles in facing those five foes.

The Owls go back on the road for a pair, next playing at Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in a non-conference match.

MMA will also jump out of conference to face Rhode Island College on the road on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.