Falcons Edged By Spartans, 4-3

Raymond nets pair of goals for Green and Gold 

Castleton, Vt.. – The Fitchburg State University field hockey team dropped a tough 4-3 decision to the Spartans of Castleton University this afternoon in Little East Conference (LEC) action from Dave Wolk Stadium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 3, Castleton 4

Records: Fitchburg State (1-13, 0-8 LEC) | Castleton (5-8, 3-4 LEC)

How It Happened

Castleton grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 9:34 mark of the first frame when sophomore Emily Harris (Crondall, England) found the back of the cage for her team leading 19th tally on the season. The Spartans double their margin (2-0) three minutes later as Harris netted her second marker of the contest.

Fitchburg State cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 14th minutes with senior Emily Iacovelli (Northbridge, Mass.) deposited a shot inside the far post for her team-best sixth goal of the 2021 campaign. The Green and Gold knotted the score (2-2) at the 19:47 mark of the second quarter when freshman Alexis Raymond (Tewksbury, Mass.) settled a feed from senior Sarah Craig (Ashburnham, Mass.), who one-timed a shot out of midair into the back of the cage for her fourth score on the year.

Castleton regained the lead with six minute remaining in the second frame as Harris knocked home a rebounded off the stick of sophomore Payton Barlow (Grandville, N.Y.) and connected on her third score of the game for the 3-2 edge going into the break.

Following the intermission, the Green and Gold tied the game in the 55th minute when Raymond received a through pass from junior Jordan Bartell (Fitchburg, Mass.) and tucked the ball inside the far post for her second goal of the game to make the score 3-3.

The Spartans secured the victory however with junior Tessa Rubocki (Auburn, Maine) buried a shot near post off an assist from Barlow for her seventh tally of the season at the 57:03 mark, resulting in the 4-3 final.

Inside the Numbers

This afternoon's contest marked the fifth meeting between the two squads in the sport of field hockey with the Falcons 1-4 all time when taking on the Spartans

Castleton has won the previous three matchups against Fitchburg State, including a 4-0 decision in the last meeting on October 29, 2019 at Dave Wolk Stadium

Castleton held a 19-11 advantage in shots, while also holding a slim 11-8 margin in penalty corners

Sophomore Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) made ten saves for the Falcons

Freshman Maddi Leduc (Windsor, Vt.) stopped six shots for the Spartans

Sophomore Emily Ganley (Chelmsford, Mass.) added one defensive save for the Green and Gold

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they host the Huskies of Southern Maine for a Little East Conference tilt, starting at 7:00 PM. Spartans will host the Vikings of Salem State on the same date in conference action at 7:00 PM.