Falcons Edged By Spartans, 2-1 (OT)

Craig registers sixth goal on the season in LEC setback 

Castleton, Vt. – The Fitchburg State University field hockey team suffered a tough 2-1 setback in overtime to the Spartans of Castleton University  in Little East Conference (LEC) action this evening at Dave Watt Stadium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 1, Castleton 2

Records: Fitchburg State (7-5, 4-3 LEC) I Castleton (10-2, 8-0 LEC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State's nearly opened the scoring at the 3:51 mark of the first half as senior Molly Richard (Leominster, Mass./St Bernard's) fired a shot on frame, but Spartans keeper Tashia Pashby-Rockwood (Williston, Vt./Champlain Valley) turned the shot aside.

Castleton's best scoring opportunity of the first half occurred in the ninth minute of action when sophomore Loretta Blakeney (Barnard, Vt./Woodstock) took a shot that was cleared off the goal line by Falcon junior Aislinn DeHorsey (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) for the defensive to preserve the 0-0 stalemate going into the break.

Following the intermission, the Falcons grabbed a 1-0 advantage at the 49:08 mark as freshman Sarah Craig (Ashburnham, Mass./Oakmont Regional) collected a feed from DeHorsey following a scrum in front of the cage and tucked the ball inside the far post for her sixth tally on the season.

The Spartans knotted the score (1-1) with just under five minutes remaining in regulation when Blakeney received a pass from sophomore Gabriella Hunt (Granville, N.Y./Granville) and found the back of the cage for her team-leading ninth goal of the year to force overtime.

In the overtime period, Hunt connected on her sixth score of the 2018 season 3:50 into the frame after blasting a shot into the upper left corner of the cage to give Castleton University the 2-1 victory.

Inside the Numbers

This evening's contest will mark just the third meeting between the two teams in the sport of field hockey with the Falcons currently 1-2-0 all-time when taking on the Spartans.

Fitchburg State and Castleton have split the first two meetings with the Spartans collecting a 6-2 victory last season at Spartan Stadium.

In the cage, freshman Abby Bryant (Ware, Mass./Quabbin Regional) stopped 12 shots for the Falcons in the setback, while Pashby-Rockwood made one save for the Spartans in the victory.

DeHorsey collected a pair of defensive saves for Fitchburg State, while Richard added one defensive stop for the Green and Gold as well.

Castleton held a 26-6 margin in shots, while also finishing with a 20-1 advantage in penalty corners.

Up Next

Falcons will travel to Anna Maria College on Thursday to take on the AMCATS for a non-conference tilt at 7:00 PM. Spartans will host the Lancers of Worcester State University on Saturday for an LEC matchup, starting at 4:00 PM.