Salem State Falls, 5-1, to Western Connecticut

SALEM, Mass. - Melissa Krim's (South Easton, Mass.) two-goal performance lifted the Western Connecticut Colonials to a 5-1 win over the Salem State Vikings on Senior Day at Alumni Field Saturday afternoon. The Colonials' strong three-goal first half were enough to get the victory. Western Connecticut elevates to 12-3 on the season and 8-1 in the Little East Conference (LEC). Salem State falls to 9-6 on the year and 5-5 in the LEC. Seniors Casie Curtin (Wrentham, Mass.), Katherine Crane (Arlington, Mass.), and Erin Davies (Arlington, Mass.) were congratulated for their careers at Salem State by displaying courage and leadership on and off the field.

Goals scored by: (2) Krim, (1) Carly Matasavage (Middlebury, Conn.), (1) Morgan Matthews (Bethel, Conn.), (1) Amanda Spano (Mahopac, N.Y.) all for Colonials.

Western Connecticut got on the board early in the first quarter as Kimberly Brower (Mahopac, N.Y.) passed it to Krim, who took a low shot to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Brower found Matasavage giving her the chance to take a powerful shot, and the ball soared in the top of the net as Western Connecticut now led 2-0.

With 7:14 remaining in the second quarter, Morgan Matthews assisted Krim, sinking a shot into the bottom left corner to extend the Colonials' advantage to 3-0.

At halftime, Western Connecticut dominated the first stanza leading 3-0. The Colonials attempted seven shots and all of them were on target. The Vikings had some scoring opportunities with four shots and all were on target. Salem State had an advantage in penalty corners with nine to Western Connecticut's four.

Matthews scored the Colonial's fourth unanswered goal eight minutes into the third quarter to give them a commanding 4-0 lead.

A minute later, Jillian Danton (Arlington, Mass.) lasered a shot into the net with an assist from Crane to put Salem State on the scoreboard, 4-1.

Western Connecticut's goalie Neve Manion (Newington, Conn.) earned the win in net (12-3) with one goal allowed and eight saves. The Vikings' goalie Kelli McCarthy (Foxborough, Mass.) took the loss (9-6) conceding five goals with six saves.

The Vikings' next game will be on the road against Castleton on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.