Young stars highlight Falcons' win

Courtesy of the Sentinel and Enterprise
By Chuck Sargent

FITCHBURG -- There is a youth movement in full effect on the Fitchburg State College women's soccer team.

It showed on Saturday afternoon at Elliot Field, where several freshmen led the Falcons to a 3-0 victory over UMass-Dartmouth to improve to 3-0.

"It was a good team effort," Fitchburg State coach Bruce Walberg said. "But we allowed UMass-Dartmouth to play kickball. And by them doing that, it took us out of our game.

"But once we settled in, you could sense that we started controlling the ball game. We play small ball and when we start playing long ball, we get out of our rhythm. But when you have the players that we do and are allowed to substitute, it makes it easy."

Freshman forward Carissa Kennedy got the Falcons on the scoreboard with 10 minutes to go in the first half, beating UMass-Dartmouth goalie Jennifer Denker off a pass from fellow freshman Julie Dowson.

With 3:46 remaining in the half, Kennedy assisted on the Falcons' second goal of the game, which was scored by freshman midfielder Lindsay Taylor.

While the offense was rolling, it was a defense led by senior captain Mary Provost that kept the Corsairs in check. Freshman midfielders Jocelyne Labossiere and Hannah Mitchell, as well as freshman forward Brenna Flynn, also helped contribute to the Falcons' cause.

When the Corsairs did manage to penetrate the defense, goalkeeper Emily Swan was there to prevent any scoring, stopping all five shots that came at her.

The shutout seemed to be in jeopardy with 26 minutes remaining when Cristal Peixoto lobbed a shot that got over Swan. But junior defender Elise Gallagher came in just in time to kick the ball away from the net to preserve the goose egg.

The Falcons put the game away with 17:56 to go in the contest when Taylor notched her second goal of the game. The midfielder got behind the defense, and when Denker came out to challenge, Taylor put the shot around her and into the net.