Posted: Mar 26, 2015

Fitchburg State Surges Past Women's Lacrosse

FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Elms College women's lacrosse had their early season win streak come to a close with an 18-2 road loss at Fitchburg State in non-conference action Thursday night at Elliot Field. The Blazers drop to 2-4 on the season, while Fitchburg State improves to 4-1 overall.

The Falcons delivered the first strike in the opening minute of play as freshman midfielder Carrie Long (Foxborough, Mass.) netted an unassisted goal. Less than thirty seconds later, the Blazers responded as senior midfielder Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) converted off a pass from junior attacker Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) to knot the game at 1-1 with 28:49 remaining in the first half.

In the ninth minute of play, senior attacker Lindsey White (Hanover, Mass.) scooped up a loose ball at midfield and raced to the Elms goal where her initial shot was saved by Blazers sophomore keeper Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.), but she grabbed her rebound and found freshman midfielder Corinne DeSimone (Dennis, Mas..) in front of the net for a goal to the low right side. The Falcons pushed their advantage to 3-1 as junior attacker Brianna Dunn (Monson, Mass.) danced around the Blazers defense and ripped a shot to the upper right corner.

The Falcons pulled away as they rattled off five goals, from five different goal scorers, in the span of two minutes to grab an 8-1 lead with 18:36 on the clock. Fitchburg State continued to pour it on with tallies from freshman defender Lia Crutchfield (East Longmeadow, Mass.) in the 13^th minute, and White in the 17^th minute to build their cushion to 10-1. Long scored her third goal of the day to make it an 11-1 lead, followed by goals from sophomore attacker Ali Laferriere (Tyngsboro, Mass.), a pair from freshman midfielder Jaimee Lutz (Foxborough, Mass.), and White to extend the Falcons lead to 15-1 heading into halftime.

Fitchburg State carried their momentum into the second half as Long opened up the scoring with a free position tally at the 28:58 mark. The Falcons added goals from Dunn and sophomore midfielder Andrea Comeau (Watertown, Mass.) push their lead to 18-1. The Blazers halted the Falcons 17-goal streak as junior attacker Jillian Pirog (Ludlow, Mass.) converted a free position shot with 5:36 remaining, as Fitchburg State went on to the 18-2 win.

The Falcons outshot the Blazers, 32-9, during the contest, while controlling ground balls, 21-12, and draw controls, 14-8. Fitchburg State was 8-for-11 on free position attempts, while Elms went 1-of-4 on free position opportunities. O'Connor made a game-high nine saves for Elms, while Falcons junior Elizabeth Darrigo (Billerica, Mass.) and freshman Nicole Patterson (Littleton, Mass.) each played a half in goal for Fitchburg State.

Elms will be back in action with the Blazers New England Collegiate Conference opener at Wheelock College Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Falcons will begin MASCAC play at Bridgewater State Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.

ELMS LACROSSE