Women's Soccer Suffers 2-0 Setback to Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass. --- Senior Sarah Connors (Gardner, MA) and sophomore Brianne Beckman (Lakeville, MA) each netted goals to help lead Worcester State to a 2-0 victory this afternoon over Bridgewater State in MASCAC women's soccer action at Coughlin Stadium.

With the win the Lancers improve to 5-3-2 and remain unbeaten at 2-0-1 in the conference while the Bears slip to 3-5 and 2-1 in the MASCAC.

Worcester State held an 8-1 lead in shots in the opening stanza as they had several opportunities to go on the board, but could not finish on the other end of the field. Their best chance came in the 10th minute when Connors had a free kick opportunity from 20 yards out as her bid hit the right post and ricocheted out of harm's way.

After a scoreless first half of play, Bridgewater State nearly recorded a goal in the first ten minutes of the second period, but shots by sophomore Molly Copeland (N. Falmouth, MA) and senior Kylie Beaton (Epsom, NH) were each stopped by fourth-year keeper Rachael Armenti (W. Boylston, MA).

The Lancers defense then put the clamps on the Bears offense as it allowed Connors to record her fourth marker of the season off of a free kick from 25-yards away in the 67th minute.

Play continued back and forth as WSU continued to threaten and they finally added an insurance tally in the 87th minute Beckman's tally as freshman Gaby Gonet (Agawam, MA) dished out the helper.

Bridgewater State would only have one shot the rest of the way as the Lancers cruised ahead for the triumph.

The Lancers held edges in shots (18-5) and corners (5-3) while there were 41 fouls between the two squads.

Armenti made a trio of saves in her third shutout of the season while senior Kayla Grover (Haverhill, MA) turned aside five shots in the setback.

Both teams will play Little East Conference opponents on Tuesday. Worcester State heads to Western Connecticut for a 7 PM contest under the lights while the Bears entertain UMass Dartmouth at 3:30.