Fitchburg State Blanks Becker, 4-0

LEICESTER, Mass. – Senior forward Julia Gimenez registered a hat trick as the Fitchburg State University field hockey team defeated the Hawks of Becker College, 4-0 in non-conference field hockey action at Alumni Field this afternoon.

In the opening half, Fitchburg State grabbed the lead at the 3:53 mark as Gimenez fired a shot inside the far post for her first tally on the season on feeds from junior Julia Pecoraro and sophomore Bailey Miller for the 1-0 margin.

The Hawks nearly knotted the score in the 24th minute of play when sophomore Amy Grenier and junior Brittney Babeau blasted back-to-back shots on goal, but Falcon keeper Judith Valentin was able to deny both chances.

The Falcons doubled their lead (2-0) with five minutes remaining in the stanza as Gimenez gathered a feed from Miller and buried a shot into the back of the cage for her second goal of the contest.

Following the break, the Green and Gold upped its advantage at the 60:47 mark when sophomore forward Casey Noonan tucked the ball inside the near post for her second tally on the season off an assist from Pecoraro, resulting in the 3-0 final.

The visitors capped the scoring at the 69:03 mark as Gimenez completed the hat trick, redirecting a pass off the stick of freshman Maggie Gallagher into the left side of the cage, resulting in the 4-0 final

Throughout the match, Fitchburg State out-shot Becker 27-2, while also holding an 11-2 margin in penalty corners. In the cage, Valentin turned away two first half shots for the Falcons en-route to earning the win, while senior Gabrielle Gallo finished with 14 saves for Becker in the complete game effort.

Fitchburg State (3-3, 0-2 LEC) will be back in action on Saturday as it travels UMass Dartmouth to take on the Corsairs at 12 p.m. Becker College (176. 0-0 NECC) will visit Lasell College on Saturday for a contest starting at 12 p.m.

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