Mitchell Sneaks By Womens Soccer, 3-2 In NECC Semifinal Contest
Mitchell Sneaks By Women’s Soccer, 3-2 In NECC Semifinal Contest
CHICOPEE, MA – Mitchell College broke a
2-2 tie in the 88th minute when a Mariners’ shot deflected
off an Elms College player and found its way into the back of the
net, giving No. 3 Mitchell a hard-fought 3-2 win over the
second-seeded Blazers in Thursday evening’s New England
Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship tournament semifinal
contest at Leary Field.
With the win, Mitchell improves to 8-10 overall and earns a berth
in the 2009 NECC tournament championship game. The Mariners will
play the winner of No. 4 Becker College and No. 1 Lesley University
on Saturday, Nov. 7.
With the loss, Elms is eliminated from tournament action and ends
its 2009 season 9-9-1 overall.
The first score of the game came in the 32nd minute of play when
Mitchell capitalized on good ball movement in the 18-yard box that
resulted in a goal from Leslie Briggs (Dighton,
MA) on a pass from Kaitlyn McGinn (Millstone,
NJ), giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
The Blazers quickly responded when freshman Cassandra
Tetrault (Springfield, MA) found senior Serina
Percoski (Westfield, MA) with a corner kick that Percoski
was able to punch into the net to even the score at 1-1 at the
34:50 mark.
Elms forged ahead five minutes into the second stanza when senior
Krystyna Gagne (Methuen, MA) passed the ball to
sophomore Jen Killion (Cambridge, MA) who struck
for the fifth time this season, giving the Blazers a 2-1
advantage.
Mitchell answered three minutes later when Angela Smith
(Meridan, CT) delivered a pass to Nikki Hoxie
(Winsted, CT) streaking up the right side of the field.
Hoxie blasted a shot into the lower right corner of the net,
knotting the game at 2-2.
The Mariners then went up 3-2 at the 87:43 mark thanks to the own
goal that resulted from an Elms deflection into the net.
Mitchell goalkeeper Brittany O’Neil (Old Saybrook,
CT) finished with four saves in the winning effort.
Elms outshot the Mariners 20-5 in the losing effort.