Fitchburg State Soars Past Mount Ida, 19-2

Comeau, Panek, DeSimone and  Laferriere net three goals each for Falcons

NEWTON, Mass. – Fitchburg State University raced off to a 13-0 halftime lead en route to a 19-2 victory in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Alumni Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Junior Andrea Comeau scored a hat trick for the visitors in the opening half of play while teammates Kayla Panek and Corinne DeSimone each padded two goals in the half for Fitchburg State, which improves to 3-2 on the season, while Mount Ida falls to 1-4.

Joining Comeau, Panek and DeSimone was Ali Laferriere, who also finished the contest with a hat trick as the junior attacker notched one score in the opening 30 minutes of play before adding a pair of tallies in the second half as well.

Fitchburg State jumped out to a commanding 13-0 advantage in the first half as nine different Falcons found the back of the net in first half as Comeau, Panek DeSimone, Laferriere, senior Brianna Dunn, sophomore Bailey Miller, classmate Jaimee Lutz, freshman Anna Gagnon-Burch and sophomore Lia Crutchfield all posted markers for the Green and Gold.

The Falcons improved upon its lead (16-0) at the 17:45 mark of the second half of play by scoring the first three goals after the break before the Mustangs got their first tally of the game by Samantha Basler, which was good for her second marker of the season. DeSimone struck again for her own hat trick and 8th tally of the season for the Falcons while Alyssa Kelly then put away her team leading 18th goal of the year for the Mustangs.

Crutchfield and newcomer Sarah Mallahan finished off the scoring for Fitchburg State with Mallahan's tally marking her first collegiate score, resulting in the 19-2 final.

Fitchburg State was paced by Panek, who notched a game best five points on three scores and two assists, while Laferriere added five points on three scores and a pair of helpers as well as two ground balls, two caused turnovers and a pair of draw controls. Comeau was also solid for the Falcons, adding four points on three goals and one assists to go along with a game-high seven draw controls.

For Mount Ida, Kelly and Basler notched one goal each for the Mustangs, while combining for five ground balls, five draw controls and three caused turnovers. Throughout the contest, Fitchburg State held a 27-13 advantage in shots, while the Mustangs finished with a slim 20-17 margin in ground balls.

In between the pipes, senior Liz Darrigo turned away 15 of the 17 shots she faced for the Falcons in the complete game effort, while newcomer Jackie Tarsook made four saves in 60 minutes of action for Mount Ida in the setback.

Fitchburg State (3-2, 0-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it hosts the Raiders of Rivier University for a contest starting at 5 p.m. Mount Ida (1-4, 0-0 GNAC) will host Salem State University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Portions of release courtesy of Mount Ida SID office

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