FITCHBURG, Mass. – Fitchburg State senior Grace Kerr (Holliston, Mass.) scored a pair of goals as the Falcons used a three-goal opening quarter to defeat Westfield State 6-1 on a Wednesday evening from Elliot Field in Fitchburg, Mass.
The Owls drop to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the Little East Conference. Fitchburg State improves to 5-5 on the season and 3-2 in the conference.
The Falcons opened the scoring just 1:56 into the first quarter when freshman Lena Kassel (Stuttgart, Germany) settled a feed from senior Sarah Craig (Winchendon, Mass.) off a penalty corner and deposited a shot inside the far post for her team-leading 17th marker on the season for the 1-0 edge.
The Falcons quickly doubled their advantage (2-0) roughly one minute later as Kerr fired a shot into the right side of the cage for her fourth tally of the 2022 campaign off an assist from newcomer Sophia Yates (Woodstock, Vt.).
The Green and Gold pushed the lead 3-0 in the seventh minute of action with sophomore Alexis Raymond (Tewksbury, Mass.) collected her own rebound in front of the net and struck for her first marker on the year.
Fitchburg State extended the margin with just under five minutes remaining in half when Kerr settled a rebounded shot off the stick of Kassel and buried a shot into the lower left corner for her second goal of the contest to make the score 4-0.
Following the intermission, Westfield State threatened as freshman Erin Lane (Canton, Mass.) put a shot on frame, but junior Sydney Alto (Chelmsford, Mass.) cleared the ball off the goal line for the defensive save to preserve the 4-0 margin.
Fitchburg State secured the victory in the 49th minute of play with Yates receiving a pass from Kassel, who proceeded to tip home a shot for her fourth goal on the 2022 season. The Owls cut into the deficit at the 55:47 mark with newcomer Kaleigh Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) finding the back of the cage for third of the season, resulting in the 6-1 final.
Westfield State piled up shots in the contest, doubling up the Falcons in shots (26-13) while also holding a sizeable advantage in shots on net (24-10). Falcons goalkeeper Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) played a key role in determining the outcome as she fought off a slew of shots from the Owls all night. She finished the game with 21 saves for the Falcons.
Paige Reisman (Milford, Mass.) and Lydia Sullivan (Amherst, Mass.) each recorded two saves.
Westfield State will attempt to get back on track this weekend as the Owls face Plymouth State in a Little East Conference game on Saturday at 12:00 P.M. from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.
Portions of release courtesy of Fitchburg State sports information