Homecoming weekend is a time where students, alumni, family, and friends get together to celebrate the Worcester State community. For members of the football team, it is also an opportunity to showcase their hard work this season, and to play in front of friends and loved ones who may not get to see them compete very often. “I think the biggest thing with Homecoming is that you have a really good opportunity to show a lot of different people who don’t usually go to all the football games what you work so hard for,” said Mike Loveless, a senior at Worcester State and one of the team captains.
In this year’s Homecoming game Oct 28, Worcester State will kick off against the Western Connecticut Wolves, a team that beat the Lancers by three points in their meeting last season. According to head coach Adam Peloquin, Western Connecticut is usually a competitive matchup for Worcester State each year. “It seems that West Conn is always a high scoring game and as was last year, they’re the same kind of team this year,” said Peloquin. “But it’s always a great opponent, a talented team and it usually seems to be a pretty good matchup year to year.”
John McMasters, a team captain in his fourth year at Worcester State, hopes that the excitement of playing in the Homecoming game will energize and motivate the team. “The energy surrounding the game usually helps translate to the team, and the guys usually get a lot more excited and come into the game a lot more energized.”
Worcester State has a history of facing off against Western Connecticut in their Homecoming games on Coughlin Field. The Lancers fell in their 2019-2020 Homecoming game against the Wolves, and beat them by three points at Homecoming in the 2015-2016 season. Coach Peloquin sees this year’s matchup as a chance to break the tie between the two teams. “I think this might be the third time we played them in a Homecoming,” said Peloquin of the history between the teams in recent years. “We won one of those, we lost in 2019, so hopefully we can get ahead of them.”
The Lancers are currently 1-5 this season and have four games remaining on the schedule. Coach Peloquin and the team captains are hopeful that they can build momentum and turn things around for the second half of the season. “I’d say we didn’t really start the way we anticipated, but we had some tough opponents to start,” said team captain Melke Shabo, a graduate student. “So this is the part of our schedule where we can really turn things around.”
Jayden Caron, a team captain in his senior year, added that it is important for the team to focus on what is ahead of them. “We’re also trying to do better at looking forward instead of back and just kind of focusing on what we have ahead and right in front of us.”
The Homecoming football game kicks off at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28. For the full lineup of Homecoming and Family weekend events visit the Alumni website.
Photos: Worcester State opened MASCAC play on Sept 16 with a 33-13 win over Fitchburg State. (Photos courtesy of Worcester State Athletics)
Beyond the Classroom
Worcester State’s Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery seeks artist entries for The Glow Show
Artists have through January 5 to submit work that will ultimately transform the gallery into a luminous space. Worcester State University’s Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery has announced an open . . .