Two First Half Goals Lift Women’s Soccer Past Bay Path College, 2-0

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – Elms College senior midfielder Christina Goodchild (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored her second goal of the season and sophomore midfielder Michelle Rossignol (Manchester, Mass.) netted her sixth marker of the campaign to help spark the Blazers to a 2-0 victory over Bay Path College in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's soccer game at Ryan Field.

With the win, Elms improves to 6-7-1 overall, 5-1-0 in NECC action, while Bay Path moves to 6-6-1 overall, 3-2-1 in conference play.

Both of Elms' scores came midway through the first half as senior defender Ally Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) lined up a corner kick and delivered a perfect pass to Goodchild who played the ball into the net at the 27:29 mark to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.

Freshman forward Rachel Connell (Easthampton, Mass.) then found Rossignol who connected for her team-leading sixth goal of the season to double Elms' edge to two goals at the 34:18 mark.

Elms took the 2-0 lead into halftime and then used stellar defense from Witaszek, senior Ashley Venancio (Ludlow, Mass.), sophomore Lyndsey Oppenheimer (Easthampton, Mass.) and freshman Kathleen Tuechler (Farmingdale, N.Y.) to help preserve the Blazers' fourth consecutive shutout victory.

Elms' sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) made two saves in 72:49 of action, while junior net-minder Erika Aponte (Palmer, Mass.) played 17:11 and turned away one shot in the winning effort.

Bay Path goalkeeper Alma Rizvani (Prospect, Conn.) made two saves in defeat, while Kristen Lynch (Belchertown, Mass.), Keelin Dougherty (Northfield, N.H.), and Brittany Schafer (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each fired a shot on goal.

Elms returns to non-league play on Thursday, October 17 at Westfield State University at 7:00 p.m.