Fitchburg State Tops Lasell, 5-0

Jacobs nets third hat-trick of the season en route to strong non-conference victory

NEWTON, Mass. (October 25, 2011) – The Fitchburg State field hockey team rebounded this evening with a strong non-conference victory, topping the Lasers of Lasell College, 5-0 at Grellier Field.

Senior Megan Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) paved the way for the Falcons eighth victory of the season, notching her third hat-trick of the season for six points on the afternoon. Classmate Mari Roma (Foxborough, Mass./Foxborough) and freshman Kaitlyn Silva (West Townsend, Mass./North Middlesex) also sparked the Fitchburg State offense with one tally apiece.

The Falcons hammered hard on the Lasers from the opening moments, out shooting Lasell 35-3 in the contest. Lasell goalkeeper Christine Thornton (Canton, Mass.) made 18 stops in the game and Emily Cooper (Riverhead, N.Y.) additionally turned aside one defensive save for the Lasers. Senior Taylor Begin (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) earned her seventh win of the season and fourth shutout of the year in net making two saves for the Falcons.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring early in the contest as Jacobs found the back of the net just 7:37 into the game. Jacobs received help from Kaylee Bergeron (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford) on the play with a cross from the right flank.

At the 13 minute mark, Fitchburg State doubled its lead when Silva positioned herself on the post and received a ball off the stick of Rebecca Bush (Littleton, Mass./Littleton) to place in the back of the net. Five minutes later, junior Jamie Kelley (Pepperell, Mass./North Middlesex) sped down the right sideline on a breakaway and sliced a pass across the circle to Jacobs for the Falcons' third goal, at 18:36.

Jacobs tallied one more goal before the break to produce a the hat-trick, bringing the score to 4-0 after 35 minutes, while Roma capped the game's scoring in the 54th minute with a reverse stick sweep for her eighth goal of the season.

Fitchburg State (8-8, 4-6 LEC) will be back in action on Saturday as it travels to Worcester State University at 11 a.m. Lasell (3-14, 1-8 NAC) will visit Castleton State on Sunday afternoon. Game time is TBA.