Fitchburg State Relies On Youth Over 2011 Campaign
As the 2011-12 campaign gets on its way, Fitchburg State will look to turnaround an 11-12 record from a year ago and a 5-7 conference mark. Relying heavily on its core of young players this year, Fitchburg State is set to climb back atop the MASCAC standings where it sat just a couple years ago.
Under the direction of 13th year head coach, Walter Paschal, Fitchburg State boasts the right mix of newcomers and solid veterans to shock the highly competitive MASCAC and eclipse its seventh place, pre-season ranking. Despite losing six key seniors to last year’s class, Paschal believes in his crop of returners and feels a strong start to the season will pay dividends in the end.
“This year, we hope to bounce back from a 2010-11 season,” said Paschal. “Although we will be young, I am confident that we have the right type of girls out there to make a run at the league championship and playoffs.”
Leading the Fitchburg State offense will be its returning scorers from a year ago as senior Rebecca Goreham (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) and sophomore Amy Fahey (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) pace the Falcons attack. Fahey enjoyed a breakout rookie campaign, ranking second on the team with 8.3 ppg as she shot nearly 52.0% from the floor and brought in 5.0 rebounds per contest.
Goreham has also been strong on the hardwood for the Falcons, despite succumbing to injury during the first half of the season last year. Although she missed nine contests, Goreham ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 8.1 ppg, hitting 42-of-106 from the floor and turning in a team-best 6.9 rebounds, night after night.
Joining Goreham and Fahey on the list of returners will be sophomores Brittany Chace (Foster, R.I./Ponaganset) and Jackie Boffoli (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional), as well as captain Vanessa Cote (Ashby, Mass./Saint Bernards), junior center Kelsey Johnston (Shirley, Mass./Saint Bernards) and sophomore guard Madison Marek (New Ipswich, N.H./Saint Bernards). Chace and Boffoli return to the Falcons lineup after seeing action in combined 16 games, while Johnston and Marek looked to get acclimated to the Falcons game plan with a second season under their belt. Cote also brings a bright spot to the Fitchburg State returning core, after missing last year with a season-long injury.
A major key to the Falcons success this season will be its incoming class as sophomore transfers Laura Cote (Ashby, Mass./Saint Bernards) and Meghan Secino (Leominster, Mass./Saint Bernards) join the Fitchburg State rotation. Senior Madeline Merchant (Gardner, Mass./Monty Tech), standout for the Fitchburg State women’s track team, adds quickness, speed and precision to the Falcon line up, while newcomers Rebecca Fluet (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg), Gina Angelini (Fitchburg, Mass./Leominster), Tara Ingram (Palmer, Mass./Palmer), and Kristen Enright (Westminster, Mass./Oakmont) will all vie for time in their first collegiate season.
The Falcons open their 2011-12 campaign with a slew of non-conference contests, including a pair of games at the Curry College Tip-Off Tournament. The Falcons will continue their non-conference efforts with games eight games vs. UMass Boston, Nichols, Simmons, Emerson, Lasell, Mount Ida and Anna Maria before opening league play after the New Year with Bridgewater State on January 7th.