Vikings' Rally Comes Up Short at Fitchburg State

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Salem State women's lacrosse rallied from an early 8-1 deficit, but their comeback bid was denied as Fitchburg State (1-0) held on for a 16-13 win in the opening game of the 2021 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) season. 

Tara McLaughlin (Woburn, Mass.) led the way with five goals while Kirsten Bradley (Peabody, Mass.) tallied three scores in the loss for the Vikings (0-1). Sophomore Taylor Sujko (Revere, Mass.) contributed  on both ends, finishing with two goals, an assist, four groundballs and five caused turnovers. 

Salem State grabbed a 1-0 advantage with an opening score from McLaughlin. The Falcons answered with eight straight including a pair by Madison Alves (Braintree, Mass.) and Gabrielle Scibilia (Haverhill, Mass.).

The Viking countered with a 5-1 run, including a pair from McLaughlin to cut the deficit to 9-5. Junior Julia Miele (South Hadley, Mass.) and Alves closed out the first half with tallies to give the Falcons an 11-5 lead at the half. Salem potted three of the first four goals of the second half as Bradley (Peabody, Mass.) added a pair, but goals from Alves and Miele extended the hosts lead to 13-8. With 8:08 to play the Green and Gold put the game away with goals from senior Nicole Kopacz (Tewksbury, Mass.) and an eight-meter tally from first-year Kasey Allain (Danvers, Mass.), Salem countered with a 3-0 run to end the game, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons pulled out the 16-13 victory.

Francesca Reyes (Malden, Mass.) made six saves in the win, while Vikings netminder Charlotte Orth (Bourne, Mass.) stopped seven shots.

Alves paced the Falcons, totaling seven points on six goals and an assist as well as three ground balls. Kopacz finished with a stat line that read, two goals, four ground balls, eight draw controls and a caused turnover.