Western New England University Edges Field Hockey, 2-1

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Alvino (Holtsville, N.Y.) made 17 saves but Western New England University's Jessica Scannapieco (Blue Bell, Pa.) scored what stood as the game-winner at the 68:59 mark to help lift the Golden Bears to a 2-1 victory over the Blazers in non-conference field hockey action at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms moves to 0-4 on the season, while Western New England improves to 1-2 overall.

Elms and Western New England played to a 1-1 tie on Thursday, September 12 before play was suspended with 3:57 left in regulation due to thunderstorms in the area. Play was halted at 8:28 p.m. and the game was called at 9:00 p.m. and scheduled to resume on Friday at 5:00 p.m.

The Golden Bears drew a trio of penalty corners when play resumed and at the 68:59 mark, Scannapieco chipped the ball into the right corner of the net after Jaynie Mueller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) passed her the ball in front of the net to seal the 2-1 victory.  

Scannapieco finished with seven shots on goal including the game-winner while Mueller added four shots on goal.

Western New England broke the scoreless tie just 1:41 before halftime when Tori Cirocco (Carmel, N.Y.) scored following a pass from Sabrina Lyesiuk (Orange, Mass.) to give the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead.

Western New England took 10 shots on goal in the first half but was denied nine times by Alvino before finally breaking through.

Elms had a chance to take the lead in the 19^th minute when junior midfielder Imogen Leonard (Sharon, Mass.) fired a shot into the cage from the top of the circle following a penalty corner service from senior midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) but the goal was called back.

With 20 minutes left in regulation, the Blazers leveled the contest when sophomore forward Kristina Kopyscinski (Agawam, Mass.) deflected a shot by Lyons into the top left hand corner of the net following a penalty corner feed from junior forward Jaclyn Soderquist (Enfield, Conn.).

Golden Bears' goalkeeper Emily Arnold (Gilford, N.H.) made six saves (four in the second half) before the game was suspended due to severe thunderstorms in the area with 3:57 to play in regulation, while Alvino notched 16 stops until that point.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Saturday, September 14 when it hosts Rivier University at 4:00 p.m. at Leary Field.