WESTFIELD, Mass. – Fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University stunned #1 seed Westfield State University, 14-13, in the semifinal round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Thursday night at Alumni Field.
The visiting Bears improve to 10-8 on the season and advance to the MASCAC Tournament championship game for the fifth time in program history and first since 2017. Bridgewater will travel to #2 seed Framingham State University on Saturday afternoon to take on the second-seeded Rams in the MASCAC title game at one o'clock. Framingham knocked off third-seeded Worcester State University in the other semifinal matchup, 17-11. Westfield ends the season with an overall record of 12-6.
The Bears trailed 13-11 with under four minutes left to play in the game before reeling off three goals in a span of 92 seconds to post the dramatic comeback win. A goal by freshman attack Nina Liguori (Agawam, Mass.) with 3:49 remaining started the BSU uprising. Just 42 seconds later, sophomore attack Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) knotted the score at 13-13 with an unassisted tally. Herrington then converted off an assist from senior attack Katherine Tracy (Marion, Mass.) to cap off the impressive comeback with 2:17 showing on the scoreboard.
After Westfield won the ensuing draw and the two teams exchanged turnovers, the Owls had once chance to send the game into overtime but a shot by sophomore attack Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) with 19 seconds left sailed wide of the net.
Liquori led all players with a career-high six goals. Herrington finished with three goals on the evening, while junior midfielder Katie O'Brien (Pembroke, Mass.) checked in with two goals and a helper.
BSU junior goalkeeper Olivia Kerrigan (Braintree, Mass.) made 12 saves to notch her sixth win of the season. Four of Kerrigan's 12 saves came in the fourth quarter including a key stop after Westfield had taken a 13-11 lead.
DeMaio paced the Owls with five goals, while junior attack Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.) and junior midfielders Emma Cretella Cheshire. Conn.) and Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) added two goals apiece. Connolly also dished out an assist.
Sophomore netminder Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) turned aside seven shots in the setback for the Owls.
Westfield held a 6-5 advantage at the intermission. That lead quicky disappeared, however, as the Bears potted five goals over the first nine minutes of the third quarter to pull ahead, 10-7. O'Brien netted two goals during that stretch while Tracy, Liquori and Herrington also scored for the visitors.
The Owls closed out the third period with three straight goals capped off by a Cretella conversion on the free position to even the contest at 10-10. DeMaio found the back of the net off an assist from senior attack Victoria Paras (Medford, Mass.) to reclaim the lead for the hosts just 46 seconds into the fourth quarter. Liquori scored off the free position at the 12:07 mark to tie the game yet again before back-to-back goals from DeMaio and Cretella set the stage for the Bears' dramatic comeback.
Westfield held a 31-25 shot advantage for the game, while Bridgewater held a slight edge in both draw controls (16-15) and ground balls (16-14). The Bears converted 4 of 5 free position attempts and went 18-for-27 on clear attempt. The Owls finished 19-for-21 on the clear.
BSU freshman midfielder Hannah Bowlby (Dalton, Mass.) led all players with six draw controls. Graduate midfielder Kelsi Brennan (Dedham, Mass.) added four draw controls for the Bears. Sophomore midfielder Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) corralled a team-high five draw controls for Westfield, while Rinkus and junior midfielder Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) checked in with four apiece.
Notes: The two teams have met six times in MASCAC Tournament play since the conference added women's lacrosse as a sport in 2013 with the Bears winning four of the six contests.