Owls Spook MCLA on Senior Night

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Not even a pregame power outage would spook Westfield State as three Owls seniors found the back of the net as part of a 4-0 victory over MCLA in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference match on Halloween night from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls finish the regular season with a 6-0-2 conference mark and a 7-5-6 overall record. Westfield clinches a top two seed in the MASCAC Tournament, earning a first round bye into the conference semifinals which will be held on Friday, November 7 from Alumni Field. The time and opponent are still to be determined based on results from Saturday's slate. The Trailblazers are now 1-4-3 in the MASCAC and 3-8-6 on the season.

A power surge just before kickoff set the match back approximately 15 minutes, but the delay proved to be no issue for the Owls who celebrated their nine seniors prior to the start of the game: Morgan Berthiaume, Paige Brandt, Olivia Crooks, Tori Dodge, Kiki McNary, Kiana Muratsuka, Emily Ottomaniello, Julia Robak, and Katie Slattery.

Westfield capitalized on a frightening start from MCLA which allowed an own goal to put the Owls on the board in the first half. Liv DeMember (West Boylston, Mass.) crossed a pass into the box with the attempted clear by a Trailblazers defender ending up in the back of the net.

Morgan Berthiaume (Webster, Mass.) treated the Owls to a second goal in the first half, tracking down a blocked shot attempt from Kiana Muratsuka (Wahiawa, Hawaii) before firing a shot into the goal to double the advantage with less than four minutes to go in the half.

In the second half, a memorable senior moment unfolded. DeMember served the ball into the MCLA penalty area, bouncing in front of Kylie Tomasetti (Northborough, Mass.) who tipped the service to the far post where Tori Dodge (North Canaan, Conn.) was able to bury her first goal of the season to put the match out of reach.

Muratsuka added a fourth and final tally on a penalty kick after a Trailblazers handball in the box. Muratsuka tricked the goalie, directing a shot to the opposite corner of the net for her third marker of the campaign.

The Owls held a lopsided 32-1 shots advantage in the contest and attempted nine corner kicks compared to none for the Trailblazers. Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.) notched her seventh win of the season. Destiny Alexandra Rivas (Leicester, Mass.) made three saves in the loss.

Visit WestfieldStateOwls.com for the latest updates regarding the Owls Friday night conference semifinal matchup.