By Taylor Kimmell Staff Writer The Framingham State Rams were defeated in a conference matchup against the Worcester State Lancers Nov. 15. Just 34 seconds in, WSU attempted to score, but were turned away with a save from FSU’s goalkeeper Anna McGinty, a freshman. The Rams attempted to capitalize on the momentum of this save, as freshman Petra Cernicek brought the puck down the ice and shot on Worcester’s net. The Lancers’ goalkeeper refused to let anything by. Just 30 seconds later, the Lancers sped toward the Rams’ net, once again facing a deflection from McGinty. Worcester’s first goal came at 2:56. Following this goal, FSU won 2 of the next 3 faceoffs, but were unable to use this to their advantage. Four minutes into the game, Framingham freshman Kalina Cochran was put in the penalty box for body-checking. Worcester utilized this opportunity to take 4 shots, all blocked by McGinty. McGinty saved three additional shots before the Lancers netted their second goal of the game. Two minutes later, FSU freshman Ruby Boucher took a shot on net, but was turned away by WSU’s goalie. McGinty held off the Lancers’ offense for 3 more minutes before they scored their 3rd goal of the game. Rams freshmen Ceira Garrity and Lila Amarante took shots on goal shortly after. Boucher, Cernicek and Cocheran each had one more attempt on goal during the 1st period, while Worcester netted their 4th goal. In the first 20 minutes of gameplay, McGinty saved a total of 20 of 24 shots, giving her a save percentage of 0.833. The Rams had the first shot on goal during the 2nd period. The shot came from Sarah Lewis, a freshman. Cocheran made an attempt on goal less than a minute later. WSU had five shots during the next 2 minutes, all of which were stopped by goalkeeper Brigid Milligan, a freshman. The following minute, FSU regained possession, allowing Amarante, Garrity, and Cernicek an opportunity to shoot on net. Seven minutes in, Milligan had another save against a hard shot from Worcester. The Lancers scored a goal at 10:27. Milligan saved four more shots before WSU’s offense was able to score again. Over the next 4 minutes, Milligan stopped nine more shots from Worcester. During this time, Cernicek also had a shot on goal. Worcester ended the 2nd period with one more goal at the 19-minute mark. Milligan defended against 19 of the 22 shots from WSU during the 2nd period, earning a save percentage of 0.864. Freshman Adriana Rizzotto had the first shot of the final period, followed by Boucher roughly 7 minutes later. During the first 10 minutes of the final period, goalkeeper Lila Chamoun, a freshman, prevented 13 of Worcester’s scoring attempts. Freshman Finley Hogan fired a shot on net a minute later, but could not find an opening. The Lancers attempted 17 more unsuccessful shots against Chamoun before netting the puck again. FSU followed this goal with two shots from Cernicek and Jamie Webster, a freshman. After three more impressive saves by Chamoun, Worcester netted their final goal of the game. Cernicek made one final attempt to score, but could not make it past Worcester’s goalie and the game ended with a final score of 9-0 in favor of the Lancers. During the final period of the game, Chamoun saved all but two of the 35 shots from WSU, earning her a save percentage of 0.943 for this game. “We knew it was going to be one of our tougher games. We kept up with them pretty well the whole night,” Chamoun said. “We get unlucky bounces pretty often, so I don’t think the score really shows how well we played,” she added. The Rams have faced several tough opponents so far this season. Lewis said the team has worked on staying motivated in the face of this adversity. “I think we are a relentless and hard-working team. One thing we are continuing to improve on is staying positive in tough games,” Lewis said. Many of the teams Framingham has played so far are more experienced. Most recently, the Rams traveled to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) for a conference game, losing the match by only three points. Lewis said, “We are facing teams with girls 3-4 years older than us. I think the MCLA game proved to us that we are capable of competing with these teams, considering we won two out of the three periods.” Despite the hardships that come with being a new program, the Rams are excited for the remainder of their first season on the ice. Chamoun said, “I think it’s cool to just be able to all be together and learn as a group so that in the next few years, we’re able to look back on our first year and see the improvement.” Lewis noted, “We have a lot of potential and I think we are going to start seeing results soon as long as we keep at it!” The Rams travel to Suffolk University for a non-conference matchup Nov. 23.