Women's Lacrosse Falls to Fitchburg on Senior Day, 13-12

THE BASICS

Salem State, 12 vs. Fitchburg State, 13

Records: 

Fitchburg State Falcons (7-7, 2-2 MASCAC)

Salem State Vikings (8-3, 2-2 MASCAC)

Location: Salem, Mass. - Alumni Field

Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2026

THE LEAD: The Salem State women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) matchup with Fitchburg State, 13-12. Before the contest, the Vikings honored their six seniors on senior day. Salem State and the women's lacrosse team would like to thank Aislinn Bennett (Milford, Mass.), Hannah Cochran (Marshfield, Mass.), Deb Jean (Malden, Mass.), Caitlyn O'Connell (Weymouth, Mass.), Samantha Rowe (Peabody, Mass.), and Laura Young (Leominster, Mass.) for their dedication to the Salem State women's lacrosse program throughout their careers!

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bennett opened the scoring for the Vikings after she found the back of the net nearly two minutes into the contest (13:07). However, Fitchburg responded by scoring four unanswered goals to go up 4-1 with less than five minutes remaining in the quarter. Despite the flurry of offense from the visitors, Salem chipped away at the deficit thanks to scores from Addie McAughey (West Bend, Wisc.) and Bennett at 03:55 and 03:04, respectively. 
• Going into the second, Salem evened the contest at four courtesy of a Kaylee Rich (Danvers, Mass.) score, thanks to a nice dish from Bennett. While the Falcons retook the lead with two quick scores, Salem closed out the last four minutes of the second with three-straight scores and took a 7-6 lead into the half. Cochran highlighted the strong end to the frame with two scores.
• In the third, it was all Salem as the squad outscored the visitors, 5-1, and nearly doubled up Fitchburg (12-7) going into the final quarter. However, Fitchburg flipped the script in the final quarter when the Falcons outscored the Vikes, 6-0, highlighted by the eventual game-winner from Paige Marchand with 02:00 remaining. 

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• Bennett led the Salem offense with four goals on the day. It is just her second time this season scoring three or more goals.
• Nora Bradley (Haddon Township, N.J.) took the loss for the Vikes after making eight stops.
• Hannah Azzari guided the Falcons' attack with four scores in the contest.
• Alexis Muse ended up getting the win after coming into the game in the fourth and making two stops. 

UP NEXT:

Salem caps off its home portion of the schedule when the squad hosts Westfield State on Friday, April 17, at 7:00 p.m.