Worcester State University Bests Field Hockey, 6-0

WORCESTER, Mass.  – Elms College sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Alvino (Holtsville, N.Y.) turned away 19 shots, but Worcester State University's Katelyn Abber (Dedham, Mass.) registered her first career hat-trick to help pace the Lancers to a 6-0 triumph over the Blazers in Saturday afternoon's non-conference field hockey game at Coughlin Field.

With the loss, Elms starts its season 0-1 overall, while Worcester State moves to 1-0 on the season.

Worcester State scored three times in each period as Megan Ripke (Southwick, Mass.) hit the back of the cage on a cross from Julie O'Rourke (Worcester, Mass.) at the 18:56 mark.

Less than five minutes later, Molly Kilday (Westford, Mass.) tipped in a shot from Jourdan Childs (Attleboro, Mass.) to extend the lead to 2-0, and Abber notched her first goal with 9:20 remaining in the first stanza to give the Lancers a 3-0 cushion at intermission.

Abber opened the scoring 12 minutes into the second frame and Katelyn Carmody (Shelbourne Falls, Mass.) netted a marker to increase the lead to 5-0. Abber then closed out the scoring with her third strike of the game at 55:38 mark to seal Worcester States' 6-0 victory.

Elms' sophomore forward Kristina Kopyschinski (Agawam, Mass.) made a pair of attempts but was stopped both times by Lancers' net-minder Allison Romano (East Bridgewater, Mass.) to complete the shutout win.

Worcester State outshot the Blazers 25-2 and owned an 11-5 edge in penalty corners in the contest.

Elms returns to non-league action on Thursday, September 5 when it travels to Western Connecticut State University for a 7:00 p.m. game.