Posted: Apr 23, 2015

McDonough Nets No. 100 in Loss to Framingham State

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior attacker Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.) netted her 100^th career goal as the Blazers fell to visiting Framingham State, 18-2, in a non-conference matchup at Leary Field Thursday night. The Blazers dropped to 6-7 overall, while Framingham State improves to 9-6 on the season.

Prior to the contest, Elms honored their departing seniors; McDonough, defender Danielle Jez (Westfield, Mass.), and midfielder Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.)

The Blazers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Narey took the opening draw through the Rams defense and whistled a shot into the back of the net, staking Elms to a 1-0 lead. Framingham State responded with back-to-back goals from junior midfielder Stephanie Leonard (Framingham, Mass.) and freshman attacker Morghan Cassella (Lowell, Mass.) in the span of minute, putting the Rams up 2-1. Framingham State built a cushion with five unanswered goals from five different players, featuring a goal and an assist from Cassella and freshman midfielder Kimmy Foley (Mansfield, Mass.), to extend the Rams lead to 7-1 with 12:22 remaining in the first half.

At the 3:35 mark of the opening frame, McDonough reached her career milestone, taking a feed from the wing by junior attacker Ashley Cava (Wilbraham, Mass.) in front of the goal, and ripped a shot past Rams junior goalie Alysha Cericola (Waltham, Mass.) to cut the Framingham State lead to 7-2 heading into halftime.

Framingham State controlled the second half of play, scoring 11 goals during the half. Rams sophomore attacker Jessica Graham (Woburn, Mass.) scored a man-up goal in the opening minute of the half, followed by strikes from Foley and Leonard to give Framingham State a 10-2 lead with 25:57 on the clock. The next seven minutes of play were taken over by Rams sophomore midfielder Kristen Hoggins (Harvard, Mass.), who exploded for four straight goals, extending the Rams lead to 14-2. Framingham State added four more unanswered goals in the final 15 minutes of play to capture the 18-2 win over Elms.

Hoggins led the Rams with a game-high five goals, while Leonard added four goals on the day. Graham, Foley, and Cassella netted a pair of goals apiece, while Graham dished out a game-high four assists in the win.

Framingham State outshot Elms, 30-7, during the contest, and won draw controls, 14-7. Elms sophomore goalkeeper Meeghan O'Connor (Fall River, Mass.) stopped a game-high eight shots, while Cericola made one save for the Rams.

The Blazers will look to return to the win column in their 2015 regular season finale in a New England Collegiate Conference game at Becker College Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The Rams will host Westfield State Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.

ELMS LACROSSE