Twelve First-Half Goals Lifts Fitchburg State University Past Women’s Lacrosse, 18-5

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore midfielder Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) scored two goals and senior goalkeeper Rachel Schrutt (Chicopee, Mass.) notched 14 saves, but Fitchburg State University used a five-goal effort from Kelly Finamore (Weymouth, Mass.) and the Falcons scored 12 goals in the first half to help secure an 18-5 victory in Tuesday evening's New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) contest at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms falls to 0-3 on the season, 0-1 in NEWLA action, while Fitchburg State improves to 1-2 overall, 1-0 in conference play.

In the opening period, Finamore scored three of her five goals in the first 20 minutes of play to help the Falcons stake a 7-0 lead.

Narey then delivered her first goal of the contest with 9:54 remaining in the period but Fitchburg State notched five more scores as Chelsea Roberts (Newburyport, Mass.) highlighted the tail end of the first half with two of her three goals in the contest to give the Falcons a 12-1 lead at intermission.

Cassandra Benoit (North Dartmouth, Mass.) quickly added to the lead with two scores in the first four minutes of the second half. Finamore also added her final score of the game, while Lindsay White (Hanover, Mass.), Markie Apple (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Amber Nunes (New Bedford, Mass.) collected a score each.

The Blazers tallied four second-half scores of their own as Narey, senior midfielder Emily Walsh (Hadley, Mass.), junior attacker Kaitlyn Harrington (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman attacker Lauren Mazza (Agawam, Mass.) each scored a goal in the frame.

Finamore added six assists to her five-goal count, picked up three groundballs and caused a pair of turnovers, while Roberts and Jessica Bartlett (Marlborough, Mass.) added three goals and four groundballs each in the winning effort.

Goalkeeper Dylana Drolette (Burlington, Vt.) earned her first victory of the season and made seven stops against Elms.

Narey and junior defender Marcia Norat (Brockton, Mass.) secured three groundballs each, while sophomore midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) caused three turnovers in the losing effort.

Schrutt suffered the loss between the pipes (0-2) and finished with 14 saves.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Saturday, March 24 with a 12:00 p.m. game at Regis College.