Fitchburg State Rolls Past Westfield State, 1-0

Falcons improve to 8-1 in LEC with Jacob's eighth marker of the season

FITCHBURG, Mass. (October 21, 2009) - The Fitchburg State field hockey team collected its eight conference victory of the season, defeating Westfield State, 1-0 in Little East Conference action this evening.

Junior Megan Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) kept the Falcons on top of the Little East standings with her third game-winning goal of the season, while junior Taylor Van Ahnen (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk), the reigning LEC Goalie of the Week, notched her fifth shutout of the year.

After a silent first half in which Fitchburg State out-shot Westfield, 8-0, the Falcons finally cashed in, taking a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Jacobs gave the Falcons a 1-0 cushion with her eighth tally of the season as the standout junior took a feed inside the circle from classmate Mari Roma (Foxborough, Mass./Foxborough) and blasted a shot to the lower right corner of the cage.

Westfield State received a breakout performance from sophomore goalkeeper Amanda McCarthy (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) who kept Fitchburg State silent for most of the contest. The second-year net-minder tallied six saves in her complete game-effort, while feeling the heat from 17 Falcon shots.

Fitchburg State dominated the offensive front, posting a 17-8 advantage in shots, but the Falcons defense took the spotlight again, posting its sixth shutout of the season. The Falcons lowered its conference-leading goal against average (GAA) to 0.78 as Van Ahnen notched four saves and a 1.000 save percentage in the complete-game, shutout.

Fitchburg State (11-3, 8-1 LEC) will be in action again on Saturday as it hosts Keene State College at 10 a.m. Westfield State (6-10, 2-7 LEC) will host Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

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Fitchburg State 1, Westfield State 0

Scoring:
First Half: none
Second Half: FIT: Megan Jacobs (Mari Roma), 49:27;
Goaltending: FIT: Taylor Van Ahnen (70:00), four saves; WES: Amanda McCarthy (70:00), six saves;
Shots: FIT: 17; WES: 8