Worcester State Outlasts Fitchburg State, 1-0 (2OT)

Hanratty totals nine saves in Falcons tough MASCAC setback

FITCHBURG, Mass. (October 20, 2012) – The Fitchburg State men's soccer team suffered a tough, double-overtime setback this afternoon, falling to Worcester State University, 1-0 in MASCAC action at Elliot Field.

After nearly 102 minutes of scoreless play, Worcester State finally broke the game's scoring drought in the 103rd minute of the match, snapping a 12 game winless streak and earning its first conference victory of the season.

Junior Brendan Whitson (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) was the hero for the Lancers, netting his sixth goal of the season just 2:51 into the overtime period. Whitson teamed up with classmate Dan Goodine (Dracut, Mass./Dracut), who's feed set the veteran forward up for a nice, left-footed, touch shot to the lower right corner of the net. The target was just out of the diving reach of Falcon keeper Aidan Hanratty (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater), who kept the Lancers at bay for much of the game.

Both teams played even throughout the match, with Fitchburg State holding a 24-19 advantage in shots and 4-2 margin in corner kicks. In net, Hanratty collected nine saves in a complete game effort for the Falcons, while freshman Tim Schmidt (Southwick, Mass./Southwick) earned the win for the Lancers with three saves over the final 43 minutes of work.

Fitchburg State (4-10-2, 1-5-0 MASCAC) will be back in action next Saturday as it visits Salem State University at 1 p.m. Worcester State (2-10-2, 1-3-2 MASCAC) will visit Rhode Island College on Monday night at 7 p.m.