Fitchburg State Downs Becker, 5-2

Santos collects five points in Falcons non-conference victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. (September 10, 2013) – Junior forward Sierra Santos (Lakeville, Mass./Dartmouth) registered five points on two goals and one assist to lift the Fitchburg State women's soccer team to a 5-2 victory over Becker College in non-conference action this evening at Elliot Field.

Becker opened the scoring in the 19th minute of play as junior Alycia Dery (Millville, Mass./Blackstone-Millville) received a through ball from freshman Erika Galdamez (Concord, Calif./Concord) and fired a shot into the upper left corner of the net for the 1-0 advantage. The Falcons responded at the 25:47 mark when senior forward Nicole Stone (Webster, Mass. Bartlett) slid a pass over to Santos, who beat Becker goalkeeper Katherine Cormier (San Diego, Calif./Westview) to the near post to knot the score 1-1.

The Hawks (2-1) quickly regained the lead less than two minutes later as sophomore Jesley Teixeira (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) intercepted a pass and fed Dery, who then deposited the ball into the back of the net for her second tally of the contest.

The back and forth affair continued at the 29:37 mark as the Green and Gold retied the game (2-2) when junior Kayla Bridges (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) blasted a shot to the near side for her first score of the season. The Falcons grabbed their first lead of the match in the 41st minute of action, as Santos collected a feed from Stone and fired a shot inside the left post for the 3-2 margin going into the break.

In the second half, the hosts upped their lead (4-2) at the 71:56 mark when Bridges tucked the ball inside the right post for her second goal of the night, using an assist from freshman Racheal Provencher (Templeton, Mass./Narragansett Regional) before classmate Brittany Skelly (Medway, Mass./Tri-County Regional) capped the scoring with her first collegiate score in the 90th minute, resulting in the 5-2 final.

Throughout the contest, Fitchburg State controlled the offensive end, outshooting the Hawks 34-5, while also holding a 6-0 margin in corner kicks. In net, senior Jillian Kirouac (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) picked up the victory in 77 minutes of action for the Falcons, while Cormier turned aside 18 shots in the complete game effort for Becker.

Fitchburg State (1-3-0, 0-0-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it travels to WPI to take on the Engineers at 1:30 p.m. Becker (1-4-0, 0-0-0 NECC) will host Nichols College next Tuesday for a contest starting at 5:30 p.m.