#1 Lancers Defeat #4 Vikings in MASCAC Semifinals

WORCESTER, Mass. - #1 seed Worcester State advanced to the MASCAC Championship on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over #4 seed Salem State on Friday evening at John F. Coughlin Field. The Lancers improve to 12-6 while the Vikings end their season with a record of 7-11.

Worcester State opened the action early in the game with a goal by junior Natalya Morin (Barre, MA) off a hard direct attempt by senior Grace Adams (Leominster, MA)  that bobbled around the defensive sticks before finding Morin who tucked the pass around first-year Izzy Mosley (Middleborough, MA) to put Worcester ahead 1-0.

Salem attempted to tie the game with five minutes left in the first quarter off a perfectly executed reverse chip by senior Melanie Mason (Beverly, MA) at the top of the circle. The shot soared towards the cage but clinked off the top crossbar back into play where the Lancer defense was able to clear the ball. A quick counterattack saw a corner called in the final minute of the quarter but the Viking defense held strong to prevent any threat and keep the score at 1-0. 

The second quarter saw a return to back-and-forth play for the opening five minutes of action, but a corner called in the 21' minute had Worcester set up on the circle. A speedy smooth insert by junior Madison Avilla (Westport, MA) met the stick stop of first-year Megan Goodwin (Keene, NH) who placed a perfect ball for senior Gace Adams (Leominster, MA) to drive through, sending the ball flying past Mosley's right boot to put Worcester up 2-0. The Lancers attempted goal number three two minutes later, when Avilla took a page from Mason, attempting a reverse chip to the left post, but Mosley made a beautiful leaping save to keep Worcester ahead by only two. 

With two minutes left in the quarter, the Vikings broke down the Lancer's attack which led  first-year Allison Thomas (Carver, MA) to go streaking down the field, but the Lancers' defense managed to neutralize the danger. Worcester would extend the lead to three, in the final 30 seconds off another perfectly executed corner that saw Avilla feed the ball directly to Adams this time, for a quick release to see Worcester take a 3-0 lead into the half.

The third quarter was all Salem State with a quick shot by senior Mikayla Mason (Beverly, MA) off a Viking corner, but the Lancers defense cleared the attempt wide. The threats did not stop there as Salem recorded numerous corners going on a full offensive attack. The Vikings nearly had their first goal of the game when graduate student Ashley Yebba (Everett, MA) attempted to lift the ball off a collected rebound from a release from Mason. Senior Sam Gastonguay (Ashburnham, MA) was solid in the cage blocking up the Vikings attacks across the cage width. 

During the fourth quarter,  Salem's Thomas found the back of the net to put an end to the Vikings scoring drought. After many chances from Salem State's attack, Thomas was able to snag the ball off a rebound from Gastonguay's boot to grab their first goal of the game..

The Lancers and Vikings both showed effort throughout all four quarters as each team had a member sent off for two minutes within seconds of each other to play a 10-10 stretch.

Adams scored her third goal of the night, again off of a Lancer corner, giving her a hat-trick in the game off a penalty corner shot attempt from senior Emma Thomson (Agawam, MA) with three minutes remaining in the game to lock up the game and championship bid for the Lancers.  

The MASCAC Championship game will be played at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field on Sunday, November 5th against Framingham St. at 12:00 PM.

(Courtesy Worcester State Sorts Information)