#2 Castleton State Ousts #3 Fitchburg State, 17-13

Falcons close 2011 season with NEWLA semifinal setback

CASTLETON, Vt. (May 4, 2011) – Second seeded Castleton State College defeated third-seeded Fitchburg State University, 17-13 in New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance Tournament action this evening.

With the victory, Castleton State (12-4) advances to Saturday's championship match as it travels to top-seeded Bridgewater State University for the fourth consecutive year. Fitchburg State concludes the 2011 season this evening, posting an overall record of 12-3 and a5-2 mark in the NEWLA.

Junior Angelica Mazzola (Centerport, N.Y.) and senior Marie Van Der Kar (Manchester, Vt.) each pumped in five goals on the evening as Castleton State withstood a furious second-half comeback by the Falcons. Castleton had everything working in the first half as the Spartans raced out to a 10-3 lead at halftime.

After falling behind 1-0 on a Jessica Bartlett (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) tally, Mazzola answered with a pair of goals to give the Spartans an early lead. Fitchburg State junior Amanda Burns (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) tied the score at 2-2 with just over 20 minutes left in the opening half, but Van Der Kar answered with a trio of markers to ignited a Spartan 9-1 run. The run pushed the Castleton State lead to seven at the break and gave the Spartans an eight goal advantage just one minute in the second half.

In the second period, Castleton maintained a five-goal margin for much of the frame, before junior Jill Shaner (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) started a Falcon, five goal rally at the 13:23 mark. Burns keyed the surge, scoring three of her game-high six goals to bring Fitchburg State within two (15-13), but a pair of Liz Haggerty (Centerport, N.Y.) goals inside of 20 seconds put the game away.

Burns paced the Fitchburg State attack, totaling a team-best ten points with six goals and four assists, while Bonasera added three scores to the offensive mix. Bartlett and Shaner chipped in with two goals apiece.

In net, freshman Dylana Drolette (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) suffered the loss for the Falcons, stopping 11 shots in the complete game effort, while rookie counterpart  Ashly Neal (York Beach, Maine) made 13 saves in the win for the Spartans.