WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's rookie Dillon Pooler (Southampton, Mass.) scored two goals in the second half to lift the Lancers past the Fitchburg State Falcons by a score of 3-2 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
September 23, 2017
Coughlin Field
Score: Worcester State 3. Fitchburg State 2
Records: Worcester State (4-2, 2-0 MASCAC) | Fitchburg State (3-3, 0-2 MASCAC)

1^ST HALF
The Fitchburg Falcons struck first just 59 seconds in when Matthew Krikorian (North Attleboro, Mass.) took a shot off a goalie deflection, following the Falcons' first shot on net by Jared Burns (E. Bridgewater, Mass.). After a corner kick by Daniel Parker (Lake Forest, Calif.), a scramble in front of the net resulted in a Lancers own goal 27 minutes in, giving the Falcons a 2-0 advantage. Senior forward Andre Ipojuca (Saugus, Mass.) got the Lancers on the board in the 30^th minute as he received a pass from Justin Connor (Rochdale, Mass.) on the right side of the field, in turn, ending the first half with a 2-1 score.

2^ND HALF
Pooler opened up the second half with his first collegiate goal off a header after the ball came inside the box on a throw-in by Matthew Dent (Ludlow, Mass.), knotting the score at 2-2 in the 46^th minute. In the 84^th minute of the game, Pooler tallied his second career goal off a pass from Justin Echeverry (Methuen, Mass.), giving the Lancers the 3-2 lead. The Lancers kept the ball away from the Falcons' offensive zone in the remaining minutes of the game, resulting in the conference win for the Blue and Gold.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Chad Noga (Ludlow, Mass) led in shots on goal with five, while Dent, Pooler and Connor followed with three shots apiece.
• Nolan Brassard (Leominster, Mass) led the Falcons with three shots on goal.
• Worcester State outshot Fitchburg State by a 20-8 margin.
• Jason Barrett (Spencer, Mass) registered four saves in net and improved to 3-1 on the season.
• Fitchburg State's Alex Al-Zaibak (Hingham, Mass.) took the loss in net as he made five saves in the 90-minute performance.
• The Falcons had a shot percentage of 0.25 (2/8) while the Lancers had a shot percentage of 0.15 (3/20).
• Worcester held the advantage on corner kicks 7-2 (4-0 in the second half).

UP NEXT

The Worcester State men's soccer team will travel to Elms College on Wednesday (Sep. 27), while Fitchburg State will resume play at home against Newbury College on the same date.

Release written by Marisa Kulis | Sports Information Intern