MCLA drops 4-0 decision to Worcester in MASCAC season opener
Trailblazers lose to Worcester 4-0 despite excellent effort by Richardson who made 15 stops.
North Adams, MA- After a scoreless opening stanza Worcester State broke through with 3 early second half goals in this afternoon's MASCAC season opener at Shewcraft Field ultimately handing MCLA a tough 4-0 loss. With the victory the Lancers improve to 4-1-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference while MCLA falls to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in MASCAC play.
Worcester State came out of the gates on the attack peppering MCLA goalkeeper Meg Richardson and forcing her to make several spectacular saves as part of her 11 total stops in the first half. The Trailblazers would spend most of the half on their heels in their defensive end as the Lancers dominated time of possession outshooting MCLA 21-0 in the period.
Just 3 minutes into the second half after another brilliant diving save by Richardson, Worcester's Kaitlin Beluzo would finally break through as she would put the rebound off of Richardson in the back of the net for her 5th goal of the season giving the Lancers a 1-0 advantage.
In the 54th minute following a handball call in the box, Maddie Fong would score her 1st goal of the season converting the penalty kick and just over 3 minutes later she would assist on Jenna Martin's 1st goal of the season as she headed home Fong's free kick.
Worcester's pressure would continue throughout the 2nd half. The Lancers would have several more excellent scoring chances that were turned away by the MCLA defense including two fantastic saves by Richardson on breakaways. Worcester's Rachel Dixson would add a late goal in the 85th minute giving the Lancers the 4-0 victory.
For the game Worcester would outshoot MCLA 33-1 forcing Richardson to make 15 saves. The Lancers also held the advantage in corners (15-2).
The Lancers will next travel to Wenham to take Gordon College this upcoming Wednesday while the Trailblazers will head to Albany on Tuesday to take on SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
