BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University posted a 4-1 victory over #5 Framingham State University in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday night at Swenson Field.
With the win, Bridgewater State advances to the MASCAC Tournament semifinal round as the Bears (11-8) will travel to Westfield State University on Friday evening to take on the top-seeded Owls at seven. Framingham State ends the season with an overall record of 2-14-1.
The Bears are now 24-12-2 all-time versus the Rams (since 1987) and 13-5-1 at home. Bridgewater is also 3-1-1 against Framingham in MASCAC Tournament play as the two teams have met five times since the tournament's inception in 2000, but just twice since 2003.
Sophomore midfielder Delaney Langton (Scituate, R.I.), senior defender Kaitlyn Bongarzone (Mansfield, Mass.) and junior defender Samantha Tomaszewski (Sterling, Mass.) each found the back of the net for the first time this season to lead the Bears to the win. Senior forward Alana Vincent (Taunton, Mass.) added her MASCAC-leading 17th goal of the season, and classmate Emma Sanders (Seekonk, Mass.) checked in with three assists.
The Rams struck first in the contest as junior midfielder Casey Good (Dartmouth, Mass.) converted a two-on-one opportunity in the 24th minute to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Sophomore midfielder Abigail Kurtzer (Plainville, Mass.) set up the two-on-one with a pass down the right sideline to senior forward Kaleigh Pallotta (Hanover, Mass.). Pallotta slipped a crossing pass over to a wide open Good who beat the keeper one-one-one with a shot into the center of the cage.
Langton knotted the score in the 32nd minute as she beat the keeper with a shot inside the right post from 14 yards out with Sanders collecting her first assist of the evening.
The score would remain tied at 1-1 heading into the intermission.
In the 60th minute, Sanders made a great run down the right sideline, curled inside the 18 and slipped a short crossing pass to a wide open Vincent stationed in the six. Vincent one-timed a shot into the center of the net for her MASCAC-leading eighth game-winning goal of the season.
Bongarzone extended the BSU advantage to 3-1 in the 70th minute as she buried a shot inside the left post from just outside the 18 with Langton and Sanders assisting on the marker. Langton flicked the ball back to Bongarzone off Sander's corner kick attempt. The assist for Sanders marked her MASCAC-best tenth of the season.
Tomaszewki capped off the scoring in the 80th minute as she dribbled in from midfield and fired a shot into the top-left corner of the cage from the right side of the 18.
The Bears finished with a decided 32-8 shot advantage for the game as well as an 8-2 edge in corner kicks.
BSU senior netminder Kellie Souza (Wilmington, Mass.) turned aside two shots to record her 11th win of the season and 20th of her career. Sophomore Madison Brown (Attleboro, Mass.) made seven saves in the setback for the Rams.
Notes: Vincent moved into fourth place on the Bears' all-time lists for both goals and points with her 34th career marker and 81st career point….Vincent's 41 points on the season (17G, 7 A) equals Kara Kennedy (1989) for the fourth highest single-season total in program history…Sanders, who matched her assist total from last season, moved into eighth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as she now has 62 points (19G, 24A) in her career....The Bears will take on Westfield State in the MASCAC semifinals for the fifth straight year and sixth time in the last seven years. The two teams have met 11 times in the MASCAC Tournament (nine in the semifinals) with the Owls holding a 5-2-4 advantage in those 11 contests.