Samantha Lungarini tallied a pair of goals as the Owls posted a school record ninth straight win on Thursday night. (File photo)
WESTFIELD – Nine Westfield State players scored at least one goal as the Owls extended their school-record win streak to nine games with a 16-9 win over Western Connecticut State University in a non-league matchup at Alumni Field on Thursday night.
Westfield sprinted to a 12-2 halftime lead behind a pair of goals apiece for Brooke Williams (Minnechaug/Wilbraham, Mass.) , Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury/Duxbury, Mass.), Samantha Lungarini (Agawam/Agawam, Mass.) and Hunter Zackaricz (Northampton/Northampton, Mass.) to put only the final margin in doubt.
The Owls got a big game from starting goalkeeper Mimi Khampaeng (Minnechaug/Wilbraham, Mass.), who stopped nine of the 12 shots she faced before being relieved for the final 20 minutes. Khampaeng made several point-blank saves in the first half to help Westfield establish a 10-goal halftime lead.
With the Owls substituting freely in the second half, the Colonials mounted a late comeback attempt, with Kelsey Heaton (New Milford/New Milford, Conn.) scoring five straight goals and Destinee Carey (New Milford/New Milford, Conn.) added a late marker to cut Westfield’s lead to 15-9 with 4:45 to play.
Westfield’s Roni Orcutt (Westfield/Granville, Mass.) netted the final marker of the game with 2:59 left for the final margin of victory, and the Owls held possession for much of the final three minutes to secure the win.
Williams led the Owls in scoring with three goals and three assists on the night.
Heaton tallied seven goals and an assist to lead Western Connecticut. Nicole Petruzzi (Thomaston/Thomaston, Conn.) yielded nine goals to take the loss for the Colonials. Melissa O’Donnell (Greenwich/Bridgeport, Conn.) came on to record nine saves in 38 minutes of play.
Westfield State improves to 9-4 on the season and will host MCLA in a MASCAC conference game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Western Connecticut falls to 8-5 with the loss.
