FITCHBURG, Mass. – Powered by 11 first-half goals, the UMass Dartmouth women's lacrosse team posted an 18-12 victory over Fitchburg State University on the road Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Corsairs move to 6-3 overall, while the Falcons slip to 5-5.
The Corsairs got things going quickly as senior captain and midfielder
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez fired in a pass from classmate
Hannah Mitus at the 10:53 mark of the opening quarter. A tally from rookie midfielder
Maddy Allen pushed the score to 2-0 just over a minute later and senior captain
Widline Thomas opened a three-goal lead at 7:53.
Allen fired home another score less than a minute later as classmate and fellow midfielder
Lily Nees scored off a pass from Thomas at 6:35 to make it a 5-0 game. The Corsairs continued to press and it was Sanchez Alvarez connecting on another pass from Mitus with 6:18 to play in the frame for the 6-0 advantage.
The Falcons finally found the back of the net at the 3:56 mark as Alexis Raymond sent a feed from Delany Ponder in past the reach of Corsairs keeper
Kelsie Couto.
Second quarter action saw Allen net goal number three, fighting through the defense for the 7-1 tally at 7:36. Less than a minute later, Thomas sent a brilliant pass into the middle as Sanchez Alvarez turned and fired for the seven-goal advantage (8-1) with 6:53 remaining. Thomas followed minutes later, dropping in back-to-back goals to push the score to 10-1 with 3:23 remaining in the frame.
With 1:23 remaining in the contest the Corsairs opened an 11-2 margin as Sanchez Alvarez once again drove home a pass from Thomas as UMass Dartmouth headed into the locker room for intermission with the nine-goal lead.
Out of halftime, the homestanding Falcons got one back as Nicole Orlowski drove a shot home past Couto at 14:47 on the man-up. Orlowski added another tally at 11:21 on the man-advantage, closing the gap to seven (11-4). The Corsairs shut down the run at the 9:22 mark as Allen corralled a feed from Mitus, coming around the net and past several defenders for the low shot and the 12-4 edge.
Ponder snagged the Falcons fifth goal of the contest, battling through traffic in front for the high shot past Couto at 7:05, but the Corsairs responded at 5:44 with rookie attack
Jennifer Lins flipping the ball to Sanchez Alvarez for the 13-5 lead. The Falcons rebounded as Jessica St. George tallied consecutive goals, pulling the Falcons closer with a 13-7 score to end the third quarter.
In the final frame, Fitchburg State battled back for two more goals before Nees and Sanchez Alvarez each added goals as the Corsairs finished with the 18-12 victory.
Sanchez Alvarez paced the way, recording a game-high seven goals, adding seven ground balls , a game-best eight draw controls and five caused turnovers. Thomas fired in four goals with two assists, while Allen added four goals, three ground balls and four draw controls. Nees dropped in three tallies, while Mitus had two assists. In goal, Couto recorded six stops in the win.
For the Falcons, Orlowski notched four goals with two assists, while Autumn Tibbetts added two goals and two helpers. Raymond added three goals, while St. George posted two tallies. In goal, Caitlin Persson recorded three saves in 30 minutes, while Elizabeth Smith came on in relief, stopping seven shots.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, welcoming VTSU Castleton to Cressy Field at 12pm.
