Emmanuel Slips Past Fitchburg State, 3-2

Stone and Norden notch one goal apiece for Falcons

BOSTON, Mass. (September 5, 2013) – The Fitchburg State women's soccer team dropped a tough 3-2 decision to Emmanuel College this evening in non-conference action this evening at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston.

Emmanuel opened the scoring in the 17th minute of action as senior forward Lindsey Garvey (Warwick, R.I./Warwick) collected a corner kick off the foot of classmate Darcey Sullivan (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah Regional) and one-timed a shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Saints doubled their lead (2-0) at the 23:36 mark when sophomore Katelyn Fink (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) crossed a ball over to Sullivan, who headed a shot inside the left post for her second marker of the game before freshman Catherine Edmonds (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) made the score 3-0 with her first collegiate goal with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

Fitchburg State would break its scoring silence at the 44:56 mark as senior Nicole Stone (Webster, Mass./Bartlett) collected a loose ball in front of the net and deposited the ball inside the far post for her first goal of the season to make the score 3-1 heading into the break.

The Falcons came out strong in the second frame, carrying the momentum from their late first half goal to take control of the action as freshman Abbey Norden (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute for her first collegiate score, to cut the lead to 3-2.

But that's as close as the Green and Gold would get as Emmanuel was able to withstand the pressure over the final 32 minute of the match to come away with the 3-2 victory.

Throughout the contest, Emmanuel held a slim 18-14 advantage in shots, while the Falcons posted a 9-3 margin in corner kicks. In goal, senior Jillian Kirouac (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) collected 6 saves in the complete game effort for Fitchburg State, while sophomore Brenna Smith (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) made five stops for the Saints to earn the victory.

Fitchburg State (0-3-0, 0-0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Tuesday as it hosts Becker College at 7 p.m. Emmanuel (1-2-0, 0-0-0 GNAC) will visit MIT on Saturday at 11 a.m.