Worcester State Races Past Mass.-Maritime, 5-0
Worcester, MA --- Junior Alyssa Sawyer (W. Springfield, MA) collected a goal and an assist to help lift Worcester State past Mass.-Maritime, 5-0, in MASCAC women's soccer action this afternoon at Coughlin Field.
With the victory the Lancers improve to 2-1-1 in conference play and 6-5-1 overall, while the Buccaneers drop to 0-4 in league play and 4-5-2 on the campaign.
Sawyer started the scoring early as she raced up the right side past a few defenders and beat the goalie on the short side for the 1-0 lead at the 8:49 mark.
Mass.-Maritime had their best opportunity to score in the 27th minute when sophomore Emily Behen (Danvers, MA) let loose a rocket from the right corner of the box, but the shot sailed high and out of harms way preserving the lead for Worcester State.
WSU stretched their lead to two goals when junior Sarina Lathrop (Hopedale, MA) potted her first marker of the season off a beautiful pass by sophomore Kiley Hardy (Pepperell, MA) at the 29:54 mark.
With just under three minutes to play in the first stanza Lathrop saw an empty net in front of her and chipped the ball toward the opening but was denied by senior Crystal Sherman (Charlton, MA) who made a beautiful team save kicking the ball away and keeping it a two goal contest headed into the intermission.
The Blue and Gold put the game out of reach in the second half as they netted a trio of goals over a three-minute span to break things wide open.
Third-year Cassie Giardina (Pittsfield, MA) sent a missile off the inside of the left post that dribbled into the back of the net off a great pass by freshman Beth Spinazzola (Westford, MA) for the 3-0 advantage at the 55:56 mark.
Just 35 ticks later senior Gaby Gonet (Agawam, MA) registered her fourth goal of the season off a sensational middle cross by junior Shelby Archer (Dayville, CT) for the 4-0 edge.
Sawyer then found senior Laura Maunsell (Medford, MA) on the left side and she blasted a shot into the top left corner at 58:57 to cap the scoring for Worcester State.
Buccaneer sophomore keeper Katie Levesque (Wilmot, NH) registered 10 saves in the setback. WSU sophomore net-minder Jillian Witkowski (Leicster, MA) was not called upon to make a save before she was replaced by first-year Vanessa O'Donnell (Worcester, MA/Doherty) who also saw no action over the final 11:45 of the contest.
Worcester State outshot their opponents 33-1 (15-0 on goal) and also held the 10-0 lead in corner kicks.
Mass.-Maritime returns home to take on Curry College on Tuesday at 7 PM while the Lancers remain home to face-off with Colby-Sawyer Wednesday night at 7 PM.
Story By John Hanna --- Sports Information Graduate Assistant
