BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- The MCLA men's soccer team received second half goals from Colin Rousseau and Cola Bean while goalkeeper Sam Edge pitched a shutout to lead the Trailblazers past Mass  Maritime 2-0 Tuesday evening in the MASCAC quarterfinal round.

 

The fifth-seeded Trailblazers (5-10-1) advance to the MASCAC semifinal round on Friday night against top seeded Salem State.

 

The game began as the regular season match between these two teams ended, chippy and with a lot of midfield play. Maritime took its opportunities in the first half, taking 11 shots to MCLA's two. Unable to find the back of the net on any of their opportunities the first half featured frustration for both teams.

 

In the final 10 minutes of the first half three yellow cards were shown, two to MCLA, one to Mass Maritime, on three separate incidents. With neither team able to break through the game went to the break 0-0.

 

In the second half, the Bucs once again outshot the Trailblazers, this time 13-9. The added offense for MCLA paid off as they broke the scoreless tie in the 52nd minute on a shot from Rousseau on a pass from Dias. The goal put the 'Blazers up 1-0 with a lot of time left on the clock.

 

Maritime pushed and fought their way down field, earning six corners on the night, four in the second half. The Bucs nearly tied the game on multiple occasions with a handful of shots that rang off the posts.

 

Not budging, the Trailblazers worked their way up the field late in the game and found themselves with an opportunity to extend their lead. Junior Florent took a shot from the right side that Murphy saved initially. The rebound fell to the foot of Bean, and he put it in the net to up his team's lead to 2-0 and put it out of reach for the Bucs.

 

Maritime battled in the final 10 minutes with a loud crowd of Maritime cadets behind them who supported the team for the full 90 minutes, and beyond, but the Bucs could not get the ball into the net.

 

Mount Greylock graduate Edge finished with seven saves.

 

Volleyball

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The fourth-seeded MCLA volleyball jumped out to a commanding lead and then held off the hard charging Bridgewater State Bears in a 3-1 MASCAC quarterfinal victory.

 

The win for MCLA (12-11) advances the Trailblazers into the semifinal round where they'll face the top seed, the Worcester State Lancers, on Thursday night. Bridgewater State ends their season at 6-11.

 

MCLA started fast as they took the first two sets in convincing style. It was never threatened in a pair of 25-19 set victories to open up a 2-0 lead. The Bears did not go quietly however as they pushed on by taking the third set 25-20. 

 

In the decisive fourth set, Bridgewater jumped out to a 12-8 lead before MCLA would rattle off four straight points to tie things up at 12-12. BSU regained a 15-12 advantage after two straight aces from Savannah Quintal, but MCLA once again had the answer. This time the Trailblazers used a 6-1 spurt to take an 18-16 lead. A block from Giselle Arredondo started the run and when Kelly Moczulski knocked down a kill, MCLA had the lead.

 

BSU refused to quit however and used their own 6-1 spurt to once again take the lead at 22-19. From there, MCLA rallied. They outscored BSU 6-1 down the stretch to secure the win.  With the score at 24-22 in favor of MCLA, Bridgewater took advantage of an attack error to get within a point at 24-23, but a Bears attack error sealed the victory for the Trailblazers and move them on to the semifinals.

 

MCLA was paced by Moczulski's game best 15 kills on 42 attacks (.214).  She added 8 digs to her stat line.  Reagan Scattergood would end the night with 13 kills and 13 digs to aid the offense.  Reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Week Chloie Garber would collect 11 kills and 17 digs in the win.  

 

Natasha Stewart had a memorable night as well.  The senior tallied a match best 40 assists but also collected 16 digs.  The digs moved her past 1,000 for her career and she is now a two time member of the "grand club" as earlier this season she collected her 1,000th assist.