PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Following their semifinal victories on Thursday, top-seeded Western Connecticut State University and second-seeded UMass Boston will meet in the championship match of the 2021 Little East Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament. WestConn will host the conference final, the third in a row between the two squads, Saturday at noon.
No. 1 Western Connecticut 3, No. 5 Southern Maine 0
Myah Croze scored a pair of goals to lead the Western Connecticut State University women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over visiting University of Southern Maine in the Little East Conference Championships semifinal at the Westside Athletic Complex on a chilly Thursday night. WestConn, now 17-1, will be chasing its 12th LEC title since 1999 and fifth championship since 2015.
After a scoreless first half, WestConn came out of the break on a mission. Junior back Julia DePalma (Kings Park, N.Y.) put the hosts up 1-0 when she headed home a corner kick from Hannah Daly (Newtown, Conn.) just 58 seconds into the new stanza. It was DePalma's second goal of the year.
Croze, who came into the contest second in the nation among Division III players, tallied a pair of insurance goals in the second half. In the 59th minute, she was set up by a combination of passes from Lillian Daniels and Kyla Norton into the middle of the box. Following a crafty spin dribble, she put away the one-goal cushion. The final dagger came six minutes later when she receive a pass from Suzana Imetovski. The short pass in the box set up Croze's 26th marker of the season.
Karly Martin recorded her sixth shut out of the season after making six saves against the Huskies.
Bre Atwood withstood a barrage of shots from WestConn and finished with 11 saves for Southern Maine, which ends its season at 12-4-3.
WestConn rattled off 34 shots in the cold New England air while surrendering just 13 attempts from the visitors.
Since 1999, WestConn is 11-3 in LEC title games while UMass Boston is 2-3. WestConn took home the trophy in 1999-2001, 2006-2011, 2015-2018) while the Beacons lifted the hardware in 2012 and 2019.
No. 2 UMass Boston 4, No. 3 Castleton 1
Allie Crawford played perhaps the best game of her illustrious college career to lead the UMass Boston (13-5-2) women's soccer to a 4-1 win over Castleton University (8-6-4) in the semi-final round of the 2021 Little East Conference Tournament Thursday evening at James Cotter Field.
Crawford wasted no time giving the Beacons the advantage as she scored an unassisted goal in the third minute. That lone goal would stand for the remainder of the first half, despite the Beacons outshooting the Spartans 15-3.
After the break, Crawford would strike early once again netting her second of the night in the 50th minute.
Grace McGettrick (Marshfield, Mass.) made it a three-goal affair in the 60th minute, as she scored her first goal since September 13. Despite trailing by three, Castleton's Julia Carone made things a little bit tighter as she ended the shutout bid a minute after McGettrick's goal.
The Beacons sealed their ticket to the title game with a goal from McGettrick in the 78th minute, with Crawford assisting on the play to cap-off a five-point match.
Maria Spylios (Leominster, Mass.) registered four saves to earn her second straight LEC semi-final win in her career. Alex Benfatti made an impressive eight stops in her final match of the 2021 season.
With Thursday's win, the Beacons advance to their program record third-straight Little East Conference championship match. The Beacons enter Saturday's contest as the defending champion after defeating WestConn 4-0 at James Cotter Field.