Falcons Edged By Pilgrims In Overtime

Yates nets first collegiate goal for Green and Gold 

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Field Hockey team suffered a tough 3-2 overtime setback to the Pilgrims of New England College this afternoon in non-conference action from Elliot Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 2, New England College 3

Records: Fitchburg State (1-1, 0-0 LEC) | New England College (3-0, 0-0 NECC)

How It Happened

New England College opened the scoring late in the first quarter when senior Mikayla Vincent (Newburyport, Mass.) collected a feed from sophomore Taylor Bailey (Concord, N.H.) and fired a shot into the left side of the cage for her second tally on the year for the 1-0 edge.

Fitchburg State knotted the score (1-1) in the 20th minute of action as freshman Sophia Yates (Woodstock, Vt.) redirected a shot off the stick of junior Joyce Arbia (Sag Harbor, N.Y.) and into the lower right corner of the cage for her first collegiate marker.

The Falcons grabbed the lead six minutes later with senior Grace Kerr (Holliston, Mass.) settled a rebounded shot by sophomore Alexis Raymond (Tewksbury, Mass.) and blasted a shot into the back of the cage for her first marker of the 2022 campaign.

Following the break, the Pilgrims retied the contest at 2-2 at the 37:06 mark as senior Neve Demarest (Templeton, Mass.) streaked down the field and converted a breakaway attempt for her first goal on the year.

In the overtime period, New England College secured the victory just 1:16 into the stanza when Vincent tipped home a pass from senior Drea Chin (Laconia, N.H.) and into the upper left corner for her second tally of the game, resulting in the 3-2 final.

Inside the Numbers

This afternoon's contest marked the 20th meeting between the two squads in the sport of field hockey with the Falcons 10-8-2 all time when taking on the Pilgrims

The two teams had split the last seven matchups (3-3-1) with the Pilgrims securing a 4-1 triumph in the last meeting on September 1, 2021 last season.

Fitchburg State held a 19-16 margin in shots, while New England College finished with a 12-8 edge in penalty corners

Junior Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) made eight saves for the Falcons in the setback

Graduate student Jackie Mountford (New London, N.H.) finished with 13 saves for the Pilgrims in the victory

Freshman Sophia Yates (Woodstock, Vt.) netted her first collegiate goal for Fitchburg State

Junior Sydney Alto (Chelmsford, Mass.) collected one defensive save for the Green and Gold.

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Saturday as they travel to Plymouth State to take on the Panthers for an LEC matchup, starting at 1:00 PM. Pilgrims will host the Fighting Scots of Gordon College on Friday for a non-conference tilt at 7:00 PM.