Eastern Connecticut Tops Fitchburg State, 5-1

Silva nets lone goal for the Falcons

MANSFIELD, Conn. (October 1, 2013) – Sophomore forward Hannah Keiser (Danbury, Conn.) registered five points on two goals and an assist as Eastern Connecticut State defeated Fitchburg State, 5-1 in Little East Conference (LEC) field hockey action this afternoon at the Mansfield Athletic Complex.

In the first frame, Fitchburg State took the lead at the 8:58 mark as junior forward Kaitlyn Silva (West Townsend, Mass.) collected a pass from freshman Madeline Hoffman (Mansfield, Mass.) and fired a shot into the left side of the cage for her second tally of the season to put the Falcons up 1-0.

Eastern Connecticut quickly knotted the score (1-1) less than 30 seconds later when Keiser blasted a shot into the right side of the net for her team leading eighth marker of the year to close the scoring in the first half.

Following the intermission, the Warriors grabbed its first lead of the contest in the 39th minute of action as senior Morgan Osiecki (Bethel, Conn.) took a feed from freshman Paige Schneider (East Lyme, Conn.) and slipped the ball inside the near post for her second goal of the season for the 2-1 advantage.

The hosts upped its margin less than three minutes later when Keiser struck for her second marker of the game off a penalty corner. Senior Finley Ahearn (Wallingford, Conn.) inserted the ball to Keiser at the top of the circle, who then blasted a shot into the lower right corner of the cage for the 3-1 lead.

Eastern Connecticut secured its sixth victory of the season as freshman forward MaryKate Custer (South Windsor, Conn.) registered her third tally of the season at the 48:41 mark before senior Nicole Vitello (Wallingford, Conn.) capped the game's scoring, notching her second goal of the year with just under two minutes remaining in the contest, resulting in the 5-1 final.

Throughout the match, Eastern Connecticut dominated the offensive front, holding a 21-2 advantage in shots, while limiting the Falcons to just one penalty corner. In the cage, junior Lucy Holewa (Londonderry, N.H.) and sophomore Judith Valentin (Brockton, Mass.) combined to make 10 saves for Fitchburg State, while freshman Samantha Scavo (Redding, Conn.) made one stop in the complete game effort for the Warriors.

Fitchburg State (4-5, 0-4 LEC) will be back in action on Saturday as it visits Framingham State University at 11 a.m. Eastern Connecticut State (6-4, 3-1 LEC) will host Plymouth State University on Saturday at 12 p.m.