Fitchburg State Soars Past Regis, 4-0

Richard notches hat trick for Falcons in non-conference victory 

WESTON, Mass. – Newcomer Molly Richard  notched her first collegiate hat trick as the Fitchburg State University field hockey team defeated the Pride of Regis College, 4-0 in non-conference field hockey action at Regis Stadium this afternoon.

The Falcons struck three times in the opening frame to take a 3-0 lead into the half. Sophomore Bailey Miller slid a pass over to Richard, who buried top shelf to stake the Falcons to a 1-0 lead. Richard struck again just over eight minutes later as she found herself alone at the top of the circle and laced another high shot into the top left corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Junior Madeline Hoffman rounded out the scoring in the opening half as she received a pass from sophomore Casey Noonan on a penalty corner. Hoffman fired a blast on net that a Regis defender was able to get a stick on, however, it ricocheted directly into the back of the cage to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.

The Pride threatened early in the second stanza as Yvonne Abate entered a pass to the top of the circle to Aineen Callahan. Callahan turned and fired a backhanded shot in front of the goal that was tipped by Julie Flateau, but Judith Valentin dropped to her knees for the save to keep Regis off the board.

Fitchburg State worked the ball deep into Regis territory on their ensuing possession, but the Pride defense stood firm and forced the ball out of play to regain possession. Allison Petillo played the long hit all the way through the Fitchburg defense and forced Valentin out of the cage to kick the ball toward the sidelines. Jenna Casello intercepted the clear attempt and blasted a ball into the circle that found the stick of Abate. The freshman hit a shot for the opposite post, but it just trickled wide of its mark.

The Falcons would add one more goal in the 63rd minute as Richard completed the hat trick with a backhanded blast from the top of the circle to close out the 4-0 victory.

Fitchburg State held a 43-2 edge in shots and took all 15 penalty corners in the game. In the cage, Valentin picked up her fourth win of the season, making one save, while Heck concluded the contest with senior Raegan Heck turned away 25 shots for the Pride, setting a new career high in the process, surpassing her previous mark of 24 saves at Mount Holyoke College on August 31, 2013.

Fitchburg State (4-5. 0-4 LEC) returns to action on Saturday as it hosts the Bears of Bridgewater State at 1:30 p.m. Regis College (3-5, 1-1 NECC) will travels to Elms on Saturday for a contest starting at 12 p.m.

Portions of Release Courtesy of Regis College SID Office

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