Fitchburg State Defeated By Rhode Island College, 5-2

FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Fitchburg State women's soccer team was in action this evening, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Anchorwomen of Rhode Island College in non-conference action at Elliot Field.

Rhode Island College took the lead just 3:30 into the opening frame as sophomore midfielder Eleni Couto struck for her first collegiate tally, depositing a shot into the left side of the net for the 1-0 advantage.

The Falcons knotted the score (1-1) in the 17th minute of action when junior midfielder Whitney Mansfield blasted a shot inside the far post for her second goal on the year. Fitchburg State grabbed the lead 12 minutes later as senior Victoria Floeck gathered a feed from sophomore Maddie Medina and rifled a shot into the back of the net for the 2-1 margin.

The Anchorwomen retied the contest just before the break when sophomore midfielder Eleni Grammas collected a shot off her own rebound in front of the net and slipped a shot inside the far post for her team-leading seventh goal of the season to make the score 2-2 going into halftime.

Following the intermission, Rhode Island College regained the lead for good at the 50:24 mark as sophomore defender Kori DelPrete found the back of the net for her first tally of the 2016 campaign before the visitors doubled its lead (4-2) as senior Chelsea Combs buried a penalty kick roughly five minutes later into the lower right corner for her second score on the year.

The Anchorwomen added an insurance goal in the 58th minute of play when sophomore midfielder Brittany DeGrooth converted a breakaway attempt, tucking the ball into the right side of the net for her sixth marker of the season, resulting in the 5-2 final.

Throughout the contest, Fitchburg State finished with a 24-10 margin in shots, while the corner kicks were even at 3-3. In net, sophomore Shelby Gale made four saves for the Falcons in the complete game effort, while junior Brianna Sousa turned aside nine shots for Rhode Island College.

Fitchburg State (6-11-0, 3-3-0 MASCAC) returns to action on Saturday as it hosts the Vikings of Salem State University for a contest starting at 4:30 p.m. Rhode Island College (6-9-2, 2-3-1 LEC) will travel to Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday at 1 p.m.