Women’s Lacrosse Fifth Seed In MASCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship Tournament
Westfield, Mass. – The Framingham State University women's lacrosse team has earned the fifth seed in this week's Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
The Westfield State Owls claimed the top seed after capturing the 2015 MASCAC Regular Season Title. The tournament begins on Tuesday, April 28 with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played on Thursday, April 30 and the tournament concludes on Saturday, May 2 with the championship game.
Opening the tournament on Tuesday will be fourth seed Worcester State hosting fifth Framingham State and third seed Bridgewater State hosting sixth seed Salem State. Both quarterfinal games begin at 7 pm. The winner of the Worcester State/Framingham State quarterfinal will face top seed Westfield State in Westfield on Thursday at 7 pm. The winner of the Bridgewater State/Salem State will travel to Fitchburg to face second seed Fitchburg State also at 7.
The winner of the two semifinal matchups will then play on Saturday for the MASCAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed.
After finishing with a 7-0 record in conference play, Westfield State earned the number one seed and a first round bye. Meg Griffin led the Owls with 54 goals and 21 assists for 75 points. She is first in the conference in points and tied for second in goals. Teammate Stephanie Lenhardt is second in the MASCAC with 31 assists and 29 goals.
Second seed Fitchburg State closed out the regular season 5-2 and earned the other first round. Ali Laferreire led the Falcons with 57 points on 41 goals and 16 assists, while goalie Elizabeth Darrigo compiled a MASCAC best goals against average (9.14) and save percentage (50.9).
Reigning MASCAC champion Bridgewater State enters the tournament as the third seed after compiling a 5-2 record in league play. The Bears were led by Lauren Geary who closed out the regular season with the second best number of goals (59) and most draw controls (125) and caused turnovers (30) in the league.
Worcester State landed the fourth seed in the tournament after also going 5-2 in league play. The duo of Kaila Chase and Jackie Connors were strong for the Lancers, ending the regular season with 53 and 37 goals, respectively. Chase added 14 assists for a total of 67 points, while Connors led the team with 23 assists for 60 points.
Rounding out the women's lacrosse tournament field are Framingham State and Salem State in the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively. The Rams finished the regular season with three wins to earn a spot in the tournament. Senior Zoe Reilly ended the year first in the MASCAC in goals with 62 and third in ground balls with 56. The Vikings closed out the regular season with two league wins and were led by Kelsey Russell who finished the year with 48 points on 29 goals and 19 assists.
Portions of release courtesy of MASCAC Media Relations