Falcons Roll past Raiders, 18-3

Napolitano and Alves notch first collegiate goals

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University women's lacrosse team downed the Raiders of Rivier University 18-3 in non-conference action at Elliot Field on Thursday evening.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State University 18, Rivier University 3
Records: Fitchburg State University (1-0) | Rivier University (0-2)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State started the 2018 campaign with a tally from sophomore Tracy Long (Georgetown, Mass.) just nine seconds into the match. A pair of scores from senior Jaimee Lutz (Foxboro, Mass.) and freshman Madison Alves (Braintree, Mass.) quickly made the game 3-0 Falcons.

Rivier notched their first of the game with 21:18 left in the half when sophomore Dzenana Omerovic (Revere, Mass.) deposited a goal past Falcons' netminder junior Marguerite Belcher (Quincy, Mass.). Junior Anna Gagnon-Burch (Putney, Vt.) and senior Carrie Long (Foxboro, Mass.) potted their first goals of the season to push the Falcons advantage to 5-1. After a Raiders scored their second of the game the hosts scored six unanswered markers to maintain an 11-2 advantage.

Rivier stopped the offensive rush with an 8-meter shot from the stick of Marin Ownes (Brookline, NH), however FSU padded their lead before halftime as Tracy Long scored a pair and dished out a helper on sophomore Sarah Napolitano's (Peabody, Mass.) second goal of the half to lead 14-3 at intermission.

The Falcons played stingy defense holding the Raiders scoreless in the second frame, strong defensive efforts from seniors Lia Crutchfield (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Michelle Hennessey (Londonderry, NH).) led the way for FSU. The Green and Gold added four more scores, including Rebecca Fisher's (Dracut, Mass.) second of the year, for the 18-3 final.

Inside the Numbers

Fitchburg's Carrie Long's stat line read: 11 draw controls, 5 caused turnovers, and four goals. Napolitano added a hat trick and a helper for four points. She and Alves notched their first collegiate goals. Crutchfield had a solid 6 groundballs and 3 draw controls effort.

Belcher finished with 5 save for her first win of the season, while her counterpart junior Courtney Laperriere (Keene, NH) had 20 saves in the sixty minute effort.

The Falcons led in most statistical categories, holding the advantage in shots (43-9), ground balls (30-14), and draw controls (17-5).

Up Next

The Falcons will next travel to Johnson & Wales on Thursday, March 8^th for a 4:00pm match-up while Rivier looks to bounce back on March 20th when they visit Lasell College.