It was the regular season finale for Worcester (4-6) and Westfield (1-8).

Westfield held a 16-6 lead midway thru the fourth quarter, but committed its fourth turnover of the game when senior tailback Dave Bergeron lost a fumble at the Owl 36.

Ten players later, Worcester State scored on a third-down pass completion from the 2-yard line from Good to Brian Doherty. Tom Gabriel’s extra point made the score 16-13 with 4:44 remaining.

Westfield was unable to move the sticks on its next possession, and on fourth down, punter Brad Barnard’s knee touched the ground when he fielded a low snap from center. This miscue gave the Lancers excellent field possession at the Westfield 25 with 3:36 remaining.

Senior tailback Steve Kasprzak (60 net yards on 19 carries) ran the ball four straight, then a two-yard run by Good gave the Lancers a first-and-goal from the 4.

A false start penalty moved the ball back to the nine-yard line. Good’s first-down pass was nearly intercepted by Westfield senior defensive back Dan Stern. On second down, Good rolled to right and rifled a perfect pass Ryan Kelly – just out of the reach of a diving Westfield defender – for a nine-yard touchdown with 51 seconds left to give Worcester a 20-16 lead.

The Owls then nearly pulled off a miracle comeback of their own in the closing seconds. Sophomore quarterback Dan Cohen completed a 26-yard sideline pass to Matt Shannon for a first down at the Lancer 37.

A pass completion of 21 yards to freshman David Benoit placed the ball at the 16 with 22 seconds remaining. Freshman Derek Trueira then made a leaping grab over the middle to place the ball at the 3-yard line with 10 seconds remaining.

With no timeouts remaining, the Owls took three cracks at the end zone on passing plays but they were unable to score against the aggressive Worcester defense, which also had two goal line stands in the first half.

Unable to score in the red zone, the Owls held a 9-3 halftime lead as senior Rory McKeon booted field goals of 32, 21, and 34 yards. The three field goals tied a school record for most field goals in both one half and a game. John Frasco also booted three field goals in the first half at Worcester in 2000.

Worcester State’s Tom Gabriel booted his second field goal to make the score 9-6 with 8:35 left in the third quarter.

Westfield scored its only touchdown with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter on a four-yard TD reception by McIntyre on a slant pattern. The 10-play drive covered 62 yards

Leading 16-6, the Owls had a chance to put away the game late in the third quarter when senior strong safety Ryan Riley recovered a blocked punt by teammate Matt Denman and returned it 25 yards to the 10. An unsportsmanlike penalty against Worcester gave the Owls a first and goal and the 5.

But Westfield was unable to score as it was whistled for holding on first down and Cohen was sacked for an eight-yard loss.

Cohen completed 16 of 32 passes for 172 yards but threw two interceptions. McIntyre has six receptions for 49 yards. Benoit had 5 catches for 60 yards. Bergeron led the Owls with 88 yards rushing on 25 carries.

Worcester had eight players with catches, led by Matt DeRosa (5 for 39 yards) and Doherty (5 for 36).

Linebacker Perry Stauffer led the Lancers with 11 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. Linebacker Tim Bartucca had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.