Fitchburg State Upended By Bridgewater State, 10-6

Laferriere nets team-best three points for Falcons in MASCAC semifinal setback

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The third seeded Falcons of Fitchburg State dropped a tough 10-6 decision to the second seeded Bears of Bridgewater State in semifinal round action of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's lacrosse tournament at Swenson Field this evening. 

Fitchburg State opened the scoring on a goal by junior Kayla Panek before the Bears responded with four straight tallies as senior Marissa Yowell and junior Melissa Renauld found the back of the net twice each for the 4-1 advantage.

The Falcons cut the deficit to one (4-3) when junior Ali Laferriere and sophomore Jaimee Lutz connected on back-to-back markers. Bridgewater State closed the out the half with a trio of goals by Yowell, Renauld and senior Lauren Geary to make the score 7-3 going into the break.

Following intermission, the Green and Gold continued to battle back as Laferriere struck for her second and third markers on the evening before Geary answered with her second score of the contest for the Bears for the 8-5 lead.

The two teams traded goals with Yowell scoring for Bridgewater State, while junior Andrea Comeau found the back of the net for the Falcons (9-6). The Bears put the game out of the reach minutes later as Renauld recorded her fourth score of the game, resulting in the 10-6 final.

Laferriere led the way for Fitchburg State, totaling a team-best three point son three scores and one ground ball, while sophomore Carrie Long added one point on one helper as well as three ground balls, two draw controls and three caused turnovers.

For the Bears, Geary posted a game-leading five points on two goals and three assists to go along with one ground ball, 11 draw controls and one caused turnover, while Renauld added four points on four markers as well as two ground balls and a pair of draw controls.

Throughout the contest, both teams registered 25 each, while Bridgewater State finished with a 22-14 margin in ground balls. In goal, senior Liz Darrigo stopped six shots for the Falcons in the completer game effort, while junior Allie Forman made seven saves for the Bears in 60 minutes of work.

With the loss, Fitchburg State falls to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in the MASCAC and awaits a possible bid in the 2016 ECAC DIII NE post-season tournament to be announced on Monday afternoon, while Bridgewater State improves to 10-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play and will take on the winner of the Westfield State/Worcester State game on Saturday for the 2016 MASCAC post-season championship at a time to be determined.

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