BY BRANDON WILFORE // SEPT. 21, 2016 //

In a non-conference matchup against Fitchburg State University, the Curry College women’s soccer team defeated the visiting Falcons 3-0. Curry had all momentum from the first whistle to the last.

On a perfect September night, the Colonels were hungry for a win. The last tally in the win column came on September 5^th against Thomas College.

The Colonels, led by junior Cassie Grasso and company, showed that hunger early. Fitchburg struggled to get the ball on their side of the field as Curry made multiple runs and had a few good crosses, just not good enough for a goal.

With Fitchburg on their heels, Grasso netted an unassisted goal 12:10 into the first half for her fourth tally of the year. It was also the Colonels’ first goal in five games, but not their last one tonight.

20 minutes later, Curry saw another opportunity to score and capitalized when freshman Megan Ladner scored her first career goal, stretching the lead to 2-0. At the break, Curry seemed to be dominating and had no intentions of letting up. Shots were even, although Fitchburg had nothing to show for it.

After halftime, Fitchburg came out with a little fire, for about three minutes. The fire sputtered out as Curry was winning every loose ball, outran them all over the field, and was twice as vocal. This hustle showed on the final stat sheet as the Colonels had three corner kicks and the Falcons ended with…zero.

Curry had a strong performance from freshman goalkeeper Kristen Buzzota. Fitchburg never had a good look at goal in the second half over their five shot attempts. Most of them were weak dribblers she could just kick out of her half.

Curry put the final nail in the coffin when junior Amanda Crisfulla scored her third goal of the year in the 68^th minute. Both teams started subbing, yet Curry still looked stronger.

Ladner had one more great opportunity at a goal late in the game, but Fitchburg’s goaltender made a save to deny her.

After the game, Grasso talked about the improvement on the offensive side of the ball and said, “We really wanted to get our offense going tonight, we moved our lineup around to create more offense.”

Something must have clicked because the Colonels’ offense got back on track and they improved to 4-4-1 on the season. With a bulk of conference games coming up, they are going to need this kind of offense going forward.

Battle of the freshman: In a battle of freshman goaltenders, Curry had the advantage. Buzzota finished with 10 saves and a shutout.

Ride the momentum: Curry has scored 21 goals in nine games so far this season. 18 of those goals came in their four wins.

Veteran Leaders: Other than Ladner’s goal Tuesday, all of Curry’s goals have been scored by upperclassmen this season.