Falcons Drop Non-Conference Tilt To Raiders

Narkevicius and Kassel net goals for Green and Gold

Nashua, N.H. – The Fitchburg State University Field Hockey team suffered a tough 4-2 setback to the Raiders of Rivier University in non-conference action this evening from the Joanne Merrill Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 2, Rivier 4

Records: Fitchburg State (4-5, 2-2 LEC) | Rivier (3-6, 2-2 GNAC)

How It Happened

Rivier opened the scoring at the 27:05 mark of the second quarter with junior Kayla Miles (Londonderry, N.H.) collected a feed from classmate Madison Bovill (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and struck for her third score of the season for the 1-0 edge.

The Raiders doubled their margin 30 second later as sophomore Jacklyn O'Connor (Westford, Mass.) settled a loose ball in front of the cage and tucked the ball inside the far post for her third tally on the year to make the score 2-0 going into the break.

Following the intermission, the hosts upped the lead to 3-0 in the 32nd minute of action when Miles notched her second tally of the contest off an assist from sophomore Abby Nadeau (Newbury, N.H.).

Fitchburg State cut the deficit to 3-1 roughly one minute later as freshman Olivia Narkevicius (Phillipston, Mass.) received a pass from sophomore Alexis Raymond (Tewksbury, Mass.) and deposited a shot into the back of the cage for her third goal of the 2022 campaign.

The Falcons continued to battle when freshman Lena Kassel (Stuttgart, Germany) buried a shot into the left side of the cage for her team-leading 16th marker on the year to trim the lead to 3-2 at the 40:17 mark.

Rivier secured the victory however in the 48th minute with junior Sydney Spenard (Manchester, N.H.) netted her third marker of the season as junior Chloe Sicard (Salem, N.H.) assisted on the play, resulting in the 4-2 final.

Inside the Numbers

This afternoon's contest marked the 12th meeting between the two squads in the sport of field hockey with the Falcons 9-3 all-time when taking on the Raiders

Fitchburg State finished with a 15-12 advantage in shots, while also holding a 12-6 edge in penalty corners

Junior Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) made six saves for the Falcons

Junior Olivia Boucher (Berlin, N.H.) stopped three shots for the Raiders

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they host the Owls of Westfield State University in LEC action, starting at 6:00 PM.