A Pair of First Half Goals Lifts Western Connecticut State Past Field Hockey, 2-0

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior goalkeeper Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) turned away 16 shots, but a pair of penalty corner goals by Western Connecticut State University's Victoria Vitale (West Milford, N.J.) sparked the Colonials to a 2-0 victory in Wednesday evening's non-conference field hockey game at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms falls to 0-2 on the season, while Western Connecticut State improves to 2-1 overall.

Vitale netted her first goal of the contest 4:27 into play when she delivered a penalty corner service to Deanna Mastrocola (Goshen, Conn.) and then scored on a rebounded shot and save to give the Colonials a 1-0 edge.

Twelve minutes later, Western Connecticut State found itself in the same situation with Vitale connecting for a penalty corner play-in but this time, she deflected the ball into the cage off a tipped pass from Nicole Andreasen (New Fairfield, Conn.).

Despite being outshot in the contest (28-5), Elms played solid defense as sophomore midfielder Ashley Reid (Enfield, Conn.) notched two defensive saves, and sophomore defender Allie LaMonica (Salem, Mass.) one defensive save in addition to Bonavita's 16 stops.

Freshmen defenders Abby McNulty (Bedford, Mass.) and Hannah Hellstein (Feeding Hills, Mass.) were also stellar contributors in the losing effort.

The Colonials were led defensively by Mastrocola and Christina Ferenz (Danbury, Conn.) who was credited with a defensive save, while goalkeeper Courtney Hearn (New Fairfield, Conn.) added a save to preserve the win.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Saturday, Sept. 8 when it travels to Rivier College for an 11:00 a.m. matchup with the Raiders.