Fitchburg State Soars Past Women’s Lacrosse, 18-1

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore attacker Chelsey Grabowski (South Hadley, Mass.) netted her first goal of the season, but Fitchburg State College’s Emily Swan (Franklin, Mass.) chalked up five goals and assisted on three others to help lift the Falcons to an 18-1 victory over the Blazers in Tuesday afternoon’s New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) contest at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms drops to 0-5 on the season, 0-2 in conference action, while Fitchburg State improves to 4-2 overall, 1-0 in NEWLA play.

Swan helped Fitchburg race out to a 5-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of play, netting four of the squads five goals and assisting on the other. The Falcons extended that lead to 10-0 on the strength of Swan’s fifth score, and two from Amanda Burns (Weymouth, Mass.), before Grabowski found the back of the net for Elms on a beautiful feed from senior attacker Jessica Shea (South Hadley, Mass.).

Fitchburg State posted a 14-1 lead at intermission, and scored four times in the second period to secure its 18-1 victory.

Burns finished with three goals and two assists, while Carissa Kennedy (Somerset, Mass.) notched three helpers and picked up seven ground balls. Jamie Kelley (Pepperell, Mass.) finished with two goals and two assists, while Gianna Gitto (Leominster, Mass.) scored twice to highlight the win for the Falcons.

The Blazers received three groundballs from junior midfielder Jennifer Lough (Feeding Hills, Mass.), while sophomore defender Emily McInernery (Glastonbury, Conn.) caused three turnovers. Senior defender Ashley Ziemba (Chicopee, Mass.) scooped two groundballs and caused two turnovers in the losing effort.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Thursday, April 1 when it travels to Nashua, N.H. for a contest against Daniel Webster College. First-draw is set for 3:30 p.m.