Smith Doubles Down Fitchburg State, 2-0

Ford and Kirouac combine for four saves in Falcons fourth loss of the season

FITCHBURG, Mass. (October 25, 2011) – The Fitchburg State women's soccer team suffered its fourth loss of the season this evening, falling to the visiting Pioneers of Smith College, 2-0 in non-conference action at Elliot Field.

Smith grabbed a 2-0 lead early in the first half of play as Dalyn Houser (Atlanta, Ga./Galloway) and Meredith Peck (Plymouth, N.H./Holderness) found the back of the net by the 24th minute. Houser gave the Pioneers a quick 1-0 advantage in the 11th minute of the match, hitting home for her second goal of the season off a feed from Jenna Bicierro (New Hyde Park, N.Y./New Hyde Park) while Peck doubled the Smith College lead just 12 minutes later, netting her second goal of the season with an unassisted tally at 23:08.

Both teams were held scoreless throughout the second half, despite Fitchburg State's 11-4 advantage in shots. From the start of the contest, the Falcons controlled the tempo with an 18-7 margin in targets and 3-1 advantage in corners, but Pioneers took advantage of their six attempts on net, while the Falcons mustered only eight shots on target all night.

Sophomore Jillian Kirouac (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) and freshman Kelsey Ford (Franconia, N.H./Profile School) split the goaltending duties for Fitchburg State. Kirouac worked the first 45 minutes, totaling one save with two goals allowed, while Ford added three stops over the final half of play. Senior Lindsey Gregor (Bradenton, Fla./Southeast) finished with seven saves for the Pioneers.

Fitchburg State (10-4-2, 4-2-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Saturday as it hosts Worcester State for the MASCAC Regular Season Championship at 10 a.m. Smith (3-11, 1-7 NEWMAC) will visit WPI on Saturday at 4 p.m.