Falcons Fly Past Spartans On Senior Night

Kassel registers third hat trick on the year for Green and Gold

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Field Hockey team defeated the Spartans of Castleton University, 6-2 this evening in Little East Conference (LEC) action from Elliot Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 6, Castleton 2

Records: Fitchburg State (8-5, 6-2 LEC) | Castleton (7-7, 5-3 LEC)

How It Happened

Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 5:15 mark when senior Sarah Craig (Winchendon, Mass.) received a feed from sophomore Riley O'Brien (Townsend, Mass.) and slide a shot inside the far post for her fourth marker on the year for 1-0 edge.

The Falcons double their lead seconds later with freshman Lena Kassel (Stuttgart, Germany) blasted a shot inside the far post for her team-leading 19th tally of the 2022 campaign off an assist from senior Grace Kerr (Holliston, Mass.) to make the score 2-0.

Following the intermission, the Green and Gold upped their margin (3-0) at the 34:37 mark as Kerr settled a rebound and deposited a shot into the back of the cage for her sixth score of the season.

Fitchburg State pushed the lead to 4-0 in the 38th minute of play when Kassel took a pass from junior Sophia Piper (Chelmsford, Mass.) and proceeded to connect on her second goal of the contest.

Castleton trimmed the lead to 5-1 at the 48:30 mark with junior Emily Harris (Crondall, England) notching her team-leading 22nd goal on the year, but Fitchburg State responded when Kassel converted a penalty stroke to complete the hat trick for the Green and Gold, resulting in the 6-2 final

Inside the Numbers

This evening's contest marked the sixth meeting between the two squads in the sport of field hockey with the Falcons 2-4 all-time when taking on the Spartans

Seniors Lena Kassel, Sarah Craig, Lena Spadafore and Grace Kerr were honored prior to the contest

Castleton finished with a slim 29-27 advantage in shots, while also holding a 16-6 edge in penalty corners

Junior Jenna Morse (Leominster, Mass.) stopped 19 shots for the Falcons

Newcomer Zoe Martin (Haverhill, Mass.) made six saves for the Spartans

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Southern Maine to take on the Huskies for a Little East Conference matchup, starting at 7:00 PM. Spartans will visit Salem State on the same date for a conference tilt at 6:00 PM.