UMass Dartmouth Blanks Fitchburg State, 5-0

Valentin posts 15 stops for the Falcons

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. (October 22, 2013) – Sophomore forward Alison Ledue (Bridgewater, Mass.) notched four points on a pair of makers as UMass Dartmouth defeated Fitchburg State, 5-0 in Little East Conference field hockey action at Cressy Field this evening.

In the first period of play, UMass Dartmouth opened the scoring in the 11th minute of play as sophomore forward Alison Ladue (Bridgewater, Mass.) collected the ball off a shot from senior Mary Groves (Sutton, Mass.) and fired a shot into the upper right corner of the cage for her fifth tally of the season for the 1-0 margin.

The Corsairs doubled their lead at the 32:21 mark as sophomore Jill Levrault (Somerset, Mass.) struck for her fourth goal of the season of a penalty corner. Classmate Emily Anderson (Medway, Mass.) inserted the ball to senior Tori Dolce (Jamestown, R.I.) at the top of the circle before Levrault redirected Dolce's shot in front of the net to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.

Following the break, Fitchburg State nearly broke its scoring silence as sophomore Erin Morrissey (Hubbardston, Mass.) posted three shots on goal, while senior Rebecca Bush (Littleton, Mass.) also added a shot on target but Corsair keeper Lauren O'Brien (Rochester, Mass.) was able to turn away all four attempts.

The hosts upped its lead with just under 13 minutes remaining in the contest as Dolce blasted a shot from left of the circle for her seventh score of the season to put UMass Dartmouth up 3-0 before senior Eleanor Taylor (Fairhaven, Mass.) and Ladue capped the Corsairs scoring in the second half, resulting in the 5-0 final.

Throughout the match, UMass Dartmouth held a 30-5 advantage in shots, while also holding a 17-4 margin in penalty corners. In the cage, sophomore Judith Valentin (Brockton, Mass.) made 15 stops in 59 minutes of action for Fitchburg State, while O'Brien finished with five saves in the complete game effort for the Corsairs.

Fitchburg State (5-9, 1-8 LEC) will be back in action on Saturday as it travels Worcester State for a contest starting at 11 a.m. UMass Dartmouth (11-5, 8-1 LEC) will visit Plymouth State University on Saturday at 12 p.m.