Warriors Hold Off Owls

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State women's soccer team mounted waves of offensive surges but were unable to push across a goal in a 1-0 defeat to Eastern Connecticut State University as part of a non-conference game from Rick McCarthy Field in Mansfield, Conn. on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the Owls drop to 3-4 on the season while the Warriors even their record at 3-3 after the win.

The lone tally of the game came early in the contest as Olivia Mullings (Newington, Conn.) dished a pass to Katelyn Herbert (Bethpage, N.Y.) who connected on her third goal of the season at the 6:50 mark to put the Warriors up 1-0.

The Owls turned up the pressure after allowing the Herbert goal, firing the next ten shots entering halftime but were unable to find the back of the net despite the lopsided 13-3 shot advantage after 45 minutes of play.

Westfield outshot Eastern Connecticut 7-2 in the second half, but layers of Warriors defense combined with the goalkeeping from Warriors keeper Emily Wallace (Smithtown, N.Y.) kept the Owls offense contained.

The Owls were awarded their seventh corner kick of the night with six minutes left in regulation but could not generate a shot of the attempt. With 2:57 remaining in the game, Katie Slattery (Wilbraham, Mass.) fed a pass to midfield where Kiana Muratsuka (Mililani, Hawaii) beat her defender and drove towards the net, then took a right-footed shot from just outside of the box that was corralled by Wallace to ultimately seal the shutout victory.

For the match, the Owls outshot the Warriors 20-5 and held a 7-2 shots on goal advantage. Wallace (W, 1-2) recorded seven saves. Kayla Santucci (Agawam, Mass.) registered one save.

Westfield State will remain on the road in their next game before beginning a four-game homestand. The Owls travel to Worcester State in a conference match on Saturday at 11:00 A.M.