Fitchburg State Upended By Bridgewater State, 3-1

Hoffman collects lone goal for Falcons in LEC setback

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Fitchburg State field hockey team was in action this afternoon, dropping a tough 3-1 decision to the Bears of Bridgewater State University in Little East Conference (LEC) action at Swenson Field.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 13:39 mark of the first half as senior midfielder Madeline Hoffman collected a feed from junior Casey Noonan and deposited the ball inside the near post for her third goal on the year for the 1-0 lead.

Bridgewater State nearly knotted the score in the 29th minute of play when senior forward Brittany Cullinane blasted a shot on target that Falcons keeper Brittany Linane was able to deflect away from goal as Fitchburg State took a 1-0 margin into the break.

Following intermission, the Bears broke into the scoring column at the 41:14 mark as sophomore midfielder Samantha Hayes collected a rebound off the stick of Cullinane and tucked the ball inside the right post for her sixth goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1.

The hosts took the lead roughly six minutes later when Cullinane found the back of cage for her team-leading ninth tally on the year. Cullinane gathered a loose ball in front of the net following a shot off the stick of senior Hayley Grimes and tucked the ball into the left side of cage for the 2-1 advantage.

Bridgewater State upped its margin at the 58:49 mark as senior forward Hannah Ciavarra struck for her second goal of season, blasting a shot into the right side of the cage off a rebounded shot, resulting in the 3-1 final.

Throughout the contest, Fitchburg State and Bridgewater State registered 19 shots each, while the Bears held a 9-5 advantage in penalty corners. In the cage, Linane made nine saves for the Falcons in the complete game effort, while sophomore Allison Chappell turned aside eight shots for the Bears in 70 minutes of action. 

Fitchburg State (4-3, 2-3 LEC) returns to action on Wednesday at it hosts the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State for a contest starting at 7 p.m. Bridgewater State (5-2, 3-2 LEC) will visit Worcester State on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. start time.

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