Southern Maine Ousts Fitchburg State, 2-1

Jacobs leads Falcons with team-leading seventh goal of the season

GORHAM, Maine. (November 1, 2008) - The Fitchburg State field hockey team suffered a tough season-ending setback to the University of Southern Maine, falling 2-1 in Little East Conference action this afternoon.

Junior forward India Lowe (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) scored a goal and added an assist to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies, while when junior forward Caitlin Albert (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) added one score.

Lowe put the Huskies ahead 1-0 in the 20th minute of the match as she dribbled down the left side of the field through the Fitchburg State defense and then cut the ball back, placing her shot to the far side of the net to tally her ninth goal of the season.  

Southern Maine took a 2-0 lead into the half time break as Albert converted an assist from Lowe in the 33rd minute.  Albert swatted in her team-leading tenth goal of the season out of the air and into the back of the cage following a centering pass from Lowe that was deflected in traffic.

Fitchburg State battled back early in the second half to pull to within a goal of the Huskies in the 46th minute. Sophomore forward Megan Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) tallied her team-leading seventh goal of the season when she collected her own rebound off of a save and tucked the ball past a crowd of USM defenders.  However, the Huskies were able to maintain control of the game the rest of the way to earn the win.

Fitchburg State sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Van Ahnen (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) turned away four shots in the loss. Southern Maine junior goalkeeper Allison Hill (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) made three saves to backstop the Huskies to the victory. 

Fitchburg State concludes its season with an overall record of 7-10, 4-7 in the LEC. The win secures a playoff bid into the Little East Conference tournament for the Huskies and improves their overall record to 9-10 overall and 6-5 in the Little East. 

CLICK HERE FOR BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Southern Maine 2 , Fitchburg State 1

Scoring:
First Half: USM: India Lowe, 19:02; USM: Caitlin Albert (Lowe), 33:20;
Second Half:  FSC: Megan Jacobs, 45:22
Goaltending: FSC: Taylor Van Ahnen (70:00), four saves; USM: Allison Hill (70:00), three saves.
Shots On Goal: FSC: 4; USM: 9