BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior forward Nicole Simas (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored the game's only goal in the 75th minute to lift third-seeded Bridgewater State University to a 1-0 shutout victory over #6 Fitchburg State University in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday night at Swenson Field.
The host Bears improve to 7-5-5 and advance to the tournament semifinal round on Thursday night at #2 seed Westfield State University. Game time is slated for 7:00 PM. The visiting Falcons end their season with an overall mark of 6-13.
Simas deposited the ball into a wide open net from eight yards out after the Fitchburg netminder was unable to control the rebound of an Alana Vincent (Taunton, Mass.) shot coming from the right side.
BSU junior goaltender Lauren DeSousa (Taunton, Mass.) turned aside two shots to record her school-record tenth solo shutout of the 2016 campaign. DeSousa, who also has one shared shutout, helped the Bears set the team mark for shutouts in a season with 11, breaking the previous mark of ten set back in 1993.
Bridgewater held a 14-4 shot advantage as well as a 10-1 edge in corner kicks.
Freshman netminder Alexandra Foster (Leominster, Mass.) made three saves in the setback for the Falcons.
#4 Framingham State 3, #5 Salem State 1 Box Score
Framingham, Mass.- Senior Angela Pallotta (Sterling, Mass.) scored two goals in less than a minute span late in the second half to send the Framingham State women's soccer team past Salem State 3-1 in the first round of the MASCAC Tournament Tuesday evening at Maple Street Field. The Rams advance to the MASCAC semi-final round on Friday, November 4th at top-seeded Worcester State.
The Vikings got on the board first in the final minute of the first half when a Ram foul setup a free kick for the visitors from roughly 30 yards out. Victoria Clancy (Dorchester, Mass.) sent in a strike that was saved by Rams keeper Keyonzia Gagne-Lamoureux (East Brookfield, Mass.) then Salem's Kelly Blanchard (Bridgewater, Mass.) headed in the loose ball to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead at the break.
The Vikings had a great chance to add to their lead in the 64th minute when a Vikings player beat the crashing Rams keeper but her shot hit the post and was cleared out of danger.
The Rams finally broke through in the 80th minute when the Vikings goalie Amanda Backe (Danvers, Mass.) made a great save but the rebound was settled by Pallotta and swung over to Kaelen Larocque (Upton, Mass.) who sent it into the open frame to tie the game at one.
Just over three minutes later Pallotta scored her first of the game when Kayla Almstrom (Auburn, Mass.) sent a long through ball that Pallotta ripped from right to left and past the diving goalie. Less than a minute later Pallotta converted again on a play that closely resembled the previous goalie.
Gagne-Lamoureux made seven saves for the Rams while Backe turned away nine shots in net for the Vikings.
The Rams outshot the visiting Vikings 22-to-13 in the contest while Salem held a 3-to-2 edge in corner kicks.
Courtesy of Bridgewater State and Framingham State Sports Information
