Wildcats fall to Hawks at home

BOSTON, Mass. – Meredith Race (Marion, MA) turned away 22 shots and Despina Savvoulides (Norwalk, CT) scored the first goal of the season, but Wheelock fell to 0-3 with a 9-1 loss to Fitchburg State Tuesday night.(Above: Wheelock freshman Rachel Robohm chases down a ball Tuesday night.)

The Hawks outshot the Wildcats 34-6 as four different players scored multiple goals. Sophomore Kaylee Bergeron (Acushnet, MA) led the offensive attack with three goals.

Fitchburg lit up the scoreboard less than two minutes into the game when Megan Jacobs (Stoughton, MA) shot a pass to Paula Bartalamia (Tewksbury, MA), who laced a shot to the right of Race for her first of two goals on the night and the 1-0 advantage. Senior Vanessa Truax (Foxboro, MA) followed with a two minutes later, getting into the passing lane at midfield and breaking away from Wheelock defenders for the 2-0 lead.  

The Wildcats had an opportunity to cut the Hawks lead in half early in the first half on a corner shot. But Fitchburg goalie Abbie Brown (Westwood, MA) earned three of her four saves in a matter of seconds, turning away all of Wheelock’s attempts.

Wheelock broke the shutout in the second period when junior captain Julie Kilcoyne (Sterling, MA) found freshman Savvoulides (Norwalk, CT) after a corner for the first goal of the season.

Jacobs scored two goals and three assists for Fitchburg, while teammate Eleni Aidonindis (Winchendon, MA) also scored a goal.

Wheelock next plays in a week, traveling to Eastern Connecticut State next Tuesday for a 4:30 match-up.