WESTFIELD, Mass. -- MVP Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal 41 seconds into overtime to lift second-seeded Bridgewater State University to a dramatic 11-10 victory over top-seeded Westfield State University in the championship game of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday night.
Bridgewater (12-5) will now advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the seventh straight season and eighth time in program history. The MASCAC Tournament title marks the fourth straight for the Bears who are the only team in conference history to win the championship.
Bridgewater will await word on the NCAA Tournament pairings which are expected to be announced on Sunday night at 9:30 on NCAA.com.
The game-winner came off of a pass from junior midfielder Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.), who fed the ball from the top of the fan to Yowell, who was unmarked about five yards in front of the cage on the left side. Yowell, a senior, one-timed the ball past the Owls' goalkeeper and into the back of the net,
BSU senior midfielder Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) was the best player on the field as she tallied a game-best four goals and two assists for six points to go along with game-high totals of 11 draw controls and seven ground balls. Geary became the first player in Division III women's lacrosse history to record 600 draws as she increased her career total to 603.
Geary's goal with 1:24 remaining in regulation tied the score at 10-10 and sent the game into overtime.
Junior goaltender Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) made 13 saves, including a key stop just 19 seconds into the extra session, to post her 30th career win.
Junior attack Alex King (North Weymouth, Mass.) potted a pair of goals and dished out four assists for the Bears. King's assist on Geary's game-tying goal marked her 200th career point.
Yowell finish with two goals on the evening.
Bridgewater sprinted out to a 5-1 lead with King netting the fourth and fifth goals. Strikes by Renauld, Geary and Yowell opened the scoring for the game.
Westfield swung the momentum in the final 11 minutes of the first half. Back-to-back goals by senior attack Roni Orcutt (Granville, Mass.) and sophopmore attack Rachel Testa (Westminster, Mass.) pulled the Owls to within 5-3 as the clock ticked under five minutes. Geary extended the BSU advantage back up to three, but senior attack Samatha Lungarini (Agawam, Mass.) answered with just eight seconds left in the half to make it a 6-4 game at the break.
Bridgewater held possession for nearly a five-minute stretch early in the second half, but did not add a goal until the 17:29 mark as freshman midfielder Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) scored in transition with a nice move to beat an Owl defender after a long breakout pass from Geary.
Westfield responded by scoring the next five goals. Senior midfielder Blair Smith (Milford, Mass.) tallied the first two, one off of a right-side pass from Stephanie Godek (West Springfield, Mass.) in transition, the next on a free position shot. The Owls' next three goals were all of the free-position variety, as Godek, Orcutt and sophomore attack Samantha Coyle (Weymouth, Mass.) all converted. Coyle's bounce shot with 10:39 to play gave Westfield a 9-7 lead.
The Bears answered in kind, with Geary sneaking in a shot that skipped off the underside of the cross bar with 9:40 remaining in regulation. Less than three minutes later, sophomore midfielder Rebecca McGlone (Salem, Conn.) scored on a drive to the net in an extra-attacker situation to tie the game at 9-9.
Orcutt let a high shot rip from six yards out with 4:15 to play to give Westfield a 10-9 lead. Bridgewater, however, answered with 1:24 to play as King fed Geary from the top, with Geary wheeling and firing the ball into the back of the net.
Geary won possession on the ensuing draw, but a Bridgewater charge gave the ball back to Westfield. Smith got a quality shot off with 25 seconds left in regulation with her blast ricocheting off the helmet of Forman.
Westfield was led by three goals from Orcutt and two from Smith. Senior goalie Mimi Khampaeng (Hampden, Mass.) stopped nine shots in the setback.
The Bears held a 16-7 advantage in draw controls with Geary leading the way with 11 while Etteridge and Renauld recorded two each.
The Owls finished with a 32-25 edge in shots.
Westfield's season comes to an end with a 14-5 overall record. The Owls' 14 wins are a school record.
Notes: The Bears have actually won nine straight conference tournament titles (eleven overall) dating back to their days in the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA)....With her six points, Geary increased her career total to 294 (224 G, 70 A) as she moved into a tie for fifth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list along with Katie DeMaio (2007-2010).
