Women's Lacrosse Falls to Westfield State in MASCAC Semifinals, 14-8

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Third-seeded Westfield State University posted a 14-8 victory over #2 Bridgewater State University in the semifinal round of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Thursday night at Swenson Field.

The visiting Owls improve to 10-9 on the season and advance to the tournament championship game. Westfield will take on top-seeded Framingham State University in the MASCAC title game on Saturday afternoon at Framingham's Maple Street Field. Game time is slated for 1:00 PM. The host Bears end the season with an overall record of 12-5.

Seven different student-athletes scored the Owls with senior midfielder Sydney Lambert (Hanover, Mass.), senior attack Alexa Tonelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and junior attack Rachel Gelina (Westfield, Mass.) leading the way with three goals apiece.

BSU junior attack Victoria McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) and senior midfielder Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) combined to register nine points for the Bears. McDonough tallied four goals and an assist, while Ettridge checked in with three goals and a helper.

Westfield State led 6-4 at the break. With the score knotted at 4-4, the Owls scored twice in the final 84 seconds of the first half including a goal by Tonelli with just nine seconds remaining.

Tonelli and Lambert each potted a pair of goals in the opening stanza for the visitors, while Ettridge and McDonough notched two goal apiece for the Bears over the first 30 minutes.

McDonough found the back of the net off an assist from Ettridge a little over a minute into the second half to cut the deficit to 6-5. Westfield then reeled off three straight goals by three different goal scorers to extend the lead to 9-5 with 24:46 remaining in the game.

Back-to-back strikes by McDonough and Ettridge just seven seconds apart made it a 9-7 game with 23:31 showing on the scoreboard. The Owls, however, scored four straight goals over a seven-minute stretch to take a 13-7 lead as the clock ticked under11 minutes. Junior midfielder Sam Donohoe (Pepperell, Mass.) potted a pair during the 4-0 run.

A goal by sophomore midfielder Emily Hiller (Marion, Mass.) with 8:30 remaining ended the run and pulled Bridgewater to within 13-8. That, however, would be as close as the hosts would get as the Westfield defense kept the Bears off the board the rest of the way.

A late tally by Tonelli with 55 seconds left to play put the finishing touches on the Owls' 14-8 win.

Shots were nearly even with Westfield holding a slight 28-27 advantage. Bridgewater dominated the draw, 19-5, but turned the ball over 22 times compared to 13 turnovers for the Owls. The Bears went 2-for-6 on free position attempts, while the Owls finished 0-for-7.

McDonough led all players with 11 draw controls, while senior midfielder Lisa Moynihan (Norwood, Mass.) registered six.

Westfield senior goalkeeper Maria Woodall (Norfolk, Mass.) turned aside nine shots to record her tenth win of the season. Junior Hayley Barner (Westwood, Mass.) made nine saves in the setback for Bridgewater.

Notes: Ettridge wrapped up her career with 205 goals and 45 assists for 250 points in 73 games. She is sixth all-time at Bridgewater State in goals and tenth in scoring....Moynihan finished with 181 ground balls, 158 draw controls and 86 caused turnovers in 69 career games. She is third all-time at BSU in ground balls, fourth in caused turnovers and sixth in draw controls.