Bridgewater State Stun Top Seed Westfield State to Win MASCAC Crown
The top seeds had everything. Home turf, the best record, 25 shots to 8, nine corners to two. They lost anyway.
Third-seeded Bridgewater State beat No. 1 seed Westfield State 4-3 on Saturday evening at Alumni Field to win the 2026 MASCAC championship, one of the best upsets of the whole conference finals weekend. It was a game Westfield dominated on paper and Bridgewater won on the scoreboard.
Morgan Bieler was the difference. She scored a goal and set up another, and when Westfield threw everything at them late, goalkeeper Aubrey Finn stood tall. Finn made 11 of her 13 saves in the second half alone, and Westfield’s last push died in front of her. Westfield were one of the highest-scoring sides in the country, and the game played like it, trading goals all evening, but Bridgewater always had the answer.
The win gives Bridgewater the MASCAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Westfield’s season is over at 15-5, which is a cruel way for a 15-win season to end. They outshot the Bears 25-8 and won the corners 9-2, and none of it mattered. Finals are not won on shot counts.
What it means
Bridgewater finish at 13-7 and go into the NCAAs as a team that has already beaten a better side on their own patch. That is exactly the kind of result that makes the rest of a bracket nervous. Westfield, meanwhile, will wonder how a season this good ended without a trophy. They won 15 games, hosted the final, and still went home empty-handed. That is tournament hockey.
What comes next
Bridgewater do not get long to enjoy it. They visit Williams on Wednesday 11 November at 6pm ET (4am PKT Thursday) in the NCAA Division III first round. Williams are 11-6 and at home, so it is another tough away day. But Bridgewater have just proved they do not mind those.
