Is Worcester the New Title Town?

Men’s Basketball and Women’s Ice Hockey bring home MASCAC championship wins. Now, they’re chasing a bigger stage—the NCAA Tournament.

By Lexi Jones

Men’s Basketball Wins Fourth MASCAC Championship

In just his second year leading the program, Coach Al Pettway has already guided his team to a conference title and NCAA tournament appearance—and he has no plans of slowing down.

Hired just before last season, this year marked Pettway’s first full recruiting cycle, with eight new players joining the roster. To accelerate their chemistry, he organized a preseason bonding retreat that set the tone for the season.

“We did a retreat in the fall before the season started,” Pettway said. “I thought it would be a good way to bring the guys together and let them get to know one another, and I think that time spent together outside of the basketball court was a huge factor in us winning the MASCAC title this year.”

For twenty-four hours inside the university’s wellness center, Pettway eliminated distractions—literally.

“We had a whole curriculum,” he said. “I took the phones away from the guys, and we played Manhunt, ordered pizzas and wings, and just got to know each other.”

That early investment showed up when it mattered most. The Lancers pieced together a championship run defined by cohesion and resilience, earning their way to the conference title and delivering in the biggest moments.

For senior captain Jack Lasbury-Casey, the championship game embodied everything the team had worked toward.

“In the final stretch of the game, when we realized the title was within reach—whether it was a key defensive stop, a big shot, or even just looking around and seeing everyone locked in—it felt like everything we worked for was coming together,” he said. “When the final buzzer went off, it was pure excitement, pride, and relief all at once. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

For Pettway, it was a full-circle moment.

More than 30 years earlier, he stood in a similar position—not as a coach, but as a player. In 1994, Pettway led Worcester State to a conference championship victory over Salem State and an appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Though that team fell in the first round, Pettway left a lasting mark on the program. He remains Worcester State’s all-time leading scorer and earned three MASCAC All-Star selections along with two All-New England honors.

“In my senior year at Worcester State, we went to the NCAA tournament,” Pettway said. “To come back as a coach and be able to do it with this team—it was a great experience.”

The Lancers’ postseason run ended in the first round against the University of Mary Washington, who went on to win the national championship with a 30–3 record.

“I told our guys, we lost to the team who won the national championship, so we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Pettway said. “It was a great experience and gave our guys a taste of what it takes to be one of the top teams in Division III.”

Lasbury-Casey saw it the same way. “Having the opportunity to represent Worcester State in the NCAA Tournament was an incredible experience and something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life,” he said. “It validated the work we put in and showed that we could compete not just in our conference, but on the national stage.”

For Pettway, returning to Worcester State has always been about more than wins and losses. As a player, he once imagined coming back to lead the program, and now, he’s doing just that.

“It’s always been a dream of mine. To come back to where it all started, and to try and lead the team to something bigger than what I did as a player.”

Now, with a championship in hand, Pettway is focused on what comes next.

“Now that we’ve won the MASCAC, and we know what it takes, our goal is to compete in our non-conference schedule so we’re better prepared, not just to win our conference again, but to be competitive in the NCAA tournament,” he said.

Worcester State has yet to advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament, a milestone Pettway is eager to change.

“The goal is not only to win a first- or second-round game,” he said, “but one day to win a national championship.”

Women’s Ice Hockey Wins First MASCAC Championship in Program History

As the third period clock ticked down, the Worcester State bench leaned forward, every player locked in. Just minutes earlier, the Lancers had trailed. With momentum fully on their side, they surged ahead with a goal by junior Caroline Melanson, completing a comeback that defined their season and delivered the program’s first MASCAC championship.

This might be the program’s first MASCAC title, but the win marked the Lancers’ fourth conference championship victory in five years. The most unbelievable part? Just over five years ago, Worcester State women’s ice hockey didn’t exist.

Head coach Eliza Kelley and a core group of players started Worcester State’s team in 2021 after Becker College closed its doors.

“Women’s hockey started when I got here five years ago, and we just kind of needed a place to play,” explained Kelley. “So we more or less created the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Alliance with everybody else that needed somewhere to play too, with the goal of eventually the MASCAC sponsoring women’s hockey as part of our multi-sport conference.”

That vision became reality when the Lancers joined the MASCAC two years ago. Now, they’re setting the stage for a new era.

“This group really was a special one,” Kelley said about this season’s team. “Anytime things weren’t going the way they wanted, they’d just say, ‘buy in, buy in,’ and get on board. You tell them what they need to do, and they’ll go do it. That’s rare.”

That resilience showed itself in defining moments throughout the season.

In the final game of the regular season, the Lancers delivered perhaps their most telling performance by erasing a two-goal deficit in the final six minutes to win in regulation. “I think that showed our group that whatever situation we’re in, we can handle it,” Kelley said.

That belief carried into the championship game, when Worcester State once again found itself trailing.

Senior captain Cailey Ryan never doubted the outcome. “I had full confidence in my team going into the championship game against Rivier,” she said.

When the equalizer finally came, the shift in momentum was unmistakable.

“Everyones’ hands went up in celebration—we had just tied the game,” Ryan said. “This is when I knew that we were going to win this championship. We had all the momentum now. It was our game.”

For senior goaltender Kelsey Czerniawski, who was named MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year, the victory was both personal and collective.

“Winning the MASCAC championship as well as having the honor of being Defensive Player of the Year was an incredible feeling,” she said. “This year meant a lot to me and the team—it meant redemption.”

Despite their championship win, the Lancers narrowly missed an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. “The women’s hockey tournament is so small,” Kelley said. “We had a pretty good record and strength of schedule, but there are just so few at-large bids.”

Next season, however, presents a new opportunity. With the program’s two-year waiting period in the MASCAC complete, the Lancers will be eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“The national tournament is probably our biggest goal,” Kelley said. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a long time.”

And with four conference championship wins, and a culture firmly in place, Kelley and the Lancers are in a good position to compete on the national stage.

“The goal,” Kelley said, “is to get to the national tournament—and be ready when we do.”