Mitchell Sneaks By Women’s Soccer, 3-2 In NECC Semifinal Contest

Box score

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.