WORCESTER, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth Corsairs ended the Worcester State Lancers field hockey team's four-game winning streak on Tuesday night, as two goals late in the second half lifted the Corsairs over the Lancers 4-2 for the Little East Conference win.
With the loss, the Lancers drop to 5-4 on the season and 2-2 in LEC play. The UMass Dartmouth Corsairs remain at the top of the conference with a 4-0 LEC record, while they improve to 7-2 overall on the season.
UMass Dartmouth had a 24-10 shot advantage over the Lancers, while also having just over double the amount of penalty corner opportunities with 15 on the night. Each team had a penalty stroke on the evening. The Corsairs' senior Ali Laude (Bridgewater, Mass.) was successful in her penalty stroke, adding to the 2-0 run for UMass Dartmouth after junior Katelin Morrissey (Taunton, Mass.) had an unassisted goal just 1:41 into the game.
Worcester State would not answer with a goal until the 19th minute when senior midfielder Erika Lepkowski (Baldwinville, Mass.) bounced the ball into the goal off a wide ball from senior Julie O'Rourke (Worcester, Mass.). The team's momentum picked up dramatically following that and Lepowski landed another ball past the Corsair's goalkeeper, Allison Burke (Franklin, Mass.), just four minutes later following a penalty corner. The shot was assisted by junior Morgan Cooper (Fitchburg, Mass.).
With the tie scored at two at the half, each team came out ravening to take the lead. Possession of the ball was mostly in the Corsairs hands in the second, as they overpowered the Lancers in shots 12-2.
In the 56th minute, UMass Dartmouth received a penalty corner, from where freshman Ciara Anderson (Medway, Mass.) and junior Hunter Carden (Branford, Conn.) assisted senior Jill Levrault (Somerset, Mass.) to lift the Corsairs over the Lancers once again.
About 10 minutes later, another penalty corner resulted in the Corsairs last and final goal to secure the win. Following the penalty corner, there was back-and-forth action with the ball in front of the goal, until Carden received the ball from senior Emily Anderson (Medway, Mass.) and fired it past the Lancers' substitute keeper, Kathryn Salemme (Boxboro, Mass.).
With just five minutes left on the clock, Worcester State needed some offensive action, but only saw one more shot from two-time LEC player of the week, O'Rourke.
Salemme received the loss for the Lancers, as she falls to 2-1 on the season from 58:53 minutes of play. UMass Dartmouth's Burke improves to a 7-2 keeper record for the season.
The defensive player of the game was Lancers' junior Alli Baker (Somerset, Mass.) who recorded a game-high three defensive saves for the Lancers.
Worcester State will be back in action this Saturday, as they will take on Eastern Connecticut State University at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field at 11 a.m. The Corsairs will compete this Thursday against Roger Williams on their home field for a non-conference matchup.