Women's Soccer Routs Bay Path

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – The Elms College women's soccer team erupted for seven first-half goals as the Blazers defeated host Bay Path University, 8-1, in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup at Ryan Field Tuesday afternoon. The Blazers improve to 12-3-1 overall, and 6-1 in conference play, while Bay Path drops to 5-10 on the season, and 2-5 in NECC action.

In the sixth minute of play, the Blazers kicked off their offensive barrage as junior Rachel Mick (Granby, Mass.) netted her first goal of the season off a pass from sophomore Jackie Soucia (Belchertown, Mass.), staking Elms to a 1-0 lead.

Less than seven minutes later, freshman Kelsey Shea (Belchertown, Mass.) recorded her first collegiate goal to extend the Blazers advantage to 2-0. With 28:00 left in the first half, sophomore Angelina Estrada (Springfield, Mass.) found freshman Danielle Asklar (Berlin, Conn.) for a strike to put Elms up 3-0.

Sophomore Brie Voight (Springfield, Mass.) scored her team-high 10^th goal of the season, converting a pass from sophomore Lexi Vieira (Warren, R.I.) in the 23^rd minute of play. With 13:02 on the clock, junior Sevonnah LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) recorded the next three goals for the Blazers for her first career hat trick, padding the Elms advantage to 7-1 heading into halftime.

The Blazers final blow came in the 76^th minute as sophomore Madison Jung (Stafford Springs, Conn.) tallied an unassisted goal to send Elms to the 8-1 victory.

"I think we played really well today," said Elms College Head Coach Sean Milbier. "Bay Path is a good team, and we just came out on fire. We score early and often in the first half and just played well overall. We finished on our first four chances with some pretty nice goals. We had good combination play from the midfield to out wide, good service in the middle, and finishing well. We looked to possess the ball more in the second half, not take too many chances, and moved it from side to side. We are going to work hard the next couple days, and be ready for Wheelock on Homecoming."

The Blazers controlled the shot column, 27-4, during the match. Elms senior goalkeeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.) notched a pair of saves in the win, while Bay Path junior goalie Briana Kujawski (Webster, Mass.) made 11 saves in the loss.

Elms will look to extend their win streak to five games in a home NECC tilt against Wheelock at Leary Field Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Bay Path travels to Mitchell College for an NECC game Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

ELMS SOCCER