Fitchburg State Blanks Nichols, 13-0

Burns collects 100th career point in Falcon non-conference victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (April 1, 2010) – Sophomore Amanda Burns (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) registered her 100th career point this afternoon as Fitchburg State cruised to a 13-0 victory over Nichols College in non-conference action.

Burns led the high-flying Fitchburg State offense to a 38-3 advantage in shots, posting a game-high six points with five markers and one assist. The sophomore midfielder broke the century point’s barrier early in the second period, collecting her fourth tally of the contest at the 53:23 mark.

Junior Kaitlyn Kelley (Pepperell, Mass./North Middlesex) and sophomore Kelly Finamore (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) aided Burns on the offensive front, posting four points with two goals apiece, while senior Emily Swan (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) chipped in with one score and one assist.

After a ten-minute scoring drought to open the contest, Fitchburg State broke its offensives silence, rifling off a trio of markers midway through the frame for an early 3-0 lead. Burns ignited the Falcons rally with back-to-back scores over a 34 second span, while Kelley found the back of the net at the 13:40 mark for her 11th marker of the season.

Fitchburg State continued to score in spurts throughout the first period of play, posting consecutive markers on two separate occasions. Junior Connie Perry (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) and Burns lifted the Falcons to a 5-0 lead at 22:57 with back-to-back scores, while Kelley and Swan added tallies in the final 1:50 of the frame to give Fitchburg State a 7-0 halftime lead.

In the second period, the Fitchburg State offense continued to soar, scoring six more times to secure its fifth victory of the season. Finamore opened the scoring early for the Falcons, touching twice in the first 4:15 of play, while Burns and sophomore Gianna Gitto (Leominster, Mass./Saint Bernards) each added a pair to round out the Falcons scoring.

Junior goaltender Elizabeth Rubin (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) earned her fifth victory of the season for the Falcons, going untested for the first 30 minutes of the contest, while freshman Abbie Brown (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) made two saves in her second half of work. Sophomore net-minder Mary Michaud (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) stopped 14 shots for the Bison.

Fitchburg State (5-2, 1-0 NEWLA) will be back in action on Saturday as it hosts Westfield State College at 7:30 p.m. Nichols (2-4, 1-2 TCCC) will visit Curry College on Saturday at 11 a.m.

CLICK HERE FOR BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Fitchburg State 13, Nichols 0