Falcons Edged By Panthers, 2-1

Hoffman nets lone goal for Falcons in LEC quarterfinal setback

FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Fitchburg State field hockey team dropped a tough 2-1 decision to the Panthers of Plymouth State University this evening at Elliot Field in Little East Conference Quarterfinal round field hockey action.

In the first half of play, Fitchburg State nearly opened the scoring at the 8:10 mark as senior midfielder Madeline Hoffman blasted a shot on frame that Panther keeper Alivia Bates was able to turn aside to preserve the 0-0 stalemate.

The Panthers grabbed the lead in the 23rd minute of play when senior forward Nicole Burgess collected a feed from freshman midfielder Georgia Drew and tucked the ball inside the far post for her team leading 16th tally on the year to make the score 1-0 going into the break.

Following intermission, the Falcons knotted the score (1-1) at the 47:54 mark as Hoffman received a pass from newcomer Taylor Eyles and tucked the ball into the lower left corner for her seventh marker of the season.

Plymouth State regained the lead for good roughly seven minutes later when freshman midfielder Katie McPherson collected pass at the top of the circle off a penalty corner from junior Katie Martin and ripped a shot into the back of the cage for her fourth goal of the 2016 campaign, resulting in the 2-1 final.

Throughout the game, Plymouth State finished with a slim 5-4 margin in shots, while also holding a 9-4 advantage in penalty corner. In the cage, junior Brittany Linane and sophomore Jordyn Conway combined to stop one shot for the Falcons, while Bates made one save in the complete game effort for the Panthers.

Fitchburg State concludes its 2016 season with an overall record of 13-6 and a 7-4 mark in the LEC, while Plymouth State improves to 11-5 overall and 7-4 in conference play and advances into the semifinal round of the 2016 LEC field hockey tournament on Wednesday.

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