Women’s Soccer Blanks Mass. Maritime to Remain Unbeaten in MASCAC Action

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University women's soccer team remained unbeaten in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action as the Rams blanked visiting Mass. Maritime, 5-0, on Saturday at Maple Street Field.

With the win, Framingham State (11-1-1, 5-0-1) clinched a bye in the upcoming conference tournament and can claim the top seed with a win over Westfield State next Saturday in the regular season finale. The Buccaneers, meanwhile, dip to 4-7-3 overall and 0-6 in league action.

The Rams looked to get on the scoreboard early but junior Mariah McGrath (Mansfield, Mass.) halted junior Marisa Parent's (Revere, Mass.) shot in the second minute. Nearly 10 minutes later, senior Kayla Austin (Winchester, Mass.) struck from the left side of the box off a feed from rookie Tess Gorman (Swampscott, Mass.). In the 25th minute, Parent notched her first goal of the day as she snuck the ball past a diving keeper with help from freshman Michaela Hyland (East Longmeadow, Mass.).

After the break, junior Melissa Higgins (Waltham, Mass.) found an opening following a scrum after a corner kick in the 56th minute. Parent and Austin later teamed up for a tally in the 70th minute as Parent ended the day atop the MASCAC leaderboard with 35 points and tied for the lead with 16 goals while Austin notched her league-best 12th assist. The final marker of the day came in the 90th minute as rookie Allisa Georgio (West Greenwich, R.I.) found the upper left corner of the net off a dish from classmate Elizabeth Foy (East Bridgewater, Mass.). Mass Maritime senior Lauren Salem (Westfield, Mass.) notched the first two shots of the game for the Buccaneers off free kicks in the 82nd and 84th minute while the lone shot on goal came in the 90th minute off the foot of rookie Heather Castro (Taunton, Mass.).

The Rams defense, anchored by seniors Taylor Ezold (Westfield, Mass.) and Mary Brinkmann (Bridgewater, Mass.), helped sophomore goalkeeper Sara Sullivan (Quincy, Mass.) stay undefeated (8-0-1) on the year as she was tested only once en route to her fourth shutout of the season. Buccaneer sophomore netminder Katie Levesque (Wilmont, N.H.) stopped an eye-popping 17 shots in the setback (4-7-3).

For the game, Framingham State outshot Mass. Maritime 42-3 and took all 10 corner kicks.

The Rams venture to Mount Ida on Tuesday for the penultimate match of the regular season which is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. The Buccaneers have a 1 p.m. appointment at MCLA on Saturday.